EFF v. Global Equity Management (SA) Pty Ltd
EFF filed this lawsuit against Global Equity Management (SA) Pty Ltd (GEMSA), an Australian company that sought to use foreign law to censor us from expressing our opinion about its patent. We asked the court to rule that any foreign order censoring EFF would be unenforceable in the United States under the First Amendment and the Securing the Protection of Our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act (SPEECH Act).
Although it was litigating patent suits in the same U.S. federal court, GEMSA never appeared in this suit to defend itself. On November 17, 2017, Judge Tigar found that the court had jurisdiction over GEMSA and issued an order granting a default judgment to EFF. Judge Tigar concluded that "EFF would not have been found liable for defamation under U.S. and California law" and ruled that EFF's speech was fully protected by the First Amendment.
Updates
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The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has issued a ruling [PDF] invalidating claims from US Patent No. 6,690,400, which had been the subject of the June 2016 entry in our Stupid Patent of the Month blog series. The patent owner, Global Equity Management (SA) Pty Ltd. (GEMSA),...
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A federal judge has ruled that EFF need not obey an Australian injunction ordering EFF to take down a “Stupid Patent of the Month” blog post and never speak of the patent owner’s intellectual property again.
It all started when Global Equity Management (SA) Pty Ltd (GEMSA)’s ...
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EFF has asked a federal court to rule in its favor in a lawsuit we filed against an Australian company that sought to use foreign law to censor us from expressing our opinion about its patent. While the company, Global Equity Management (SA) Pty Ltd (GEMSA,)...
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San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit yesterday against a company that’s using foreign laws to stymie EFF’s free speech rights to publish information about and criticize its litigation over a patent featured in EFF’s “Stupid Patent of the Month” blog series.
The company, Global...
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How do you store your paper files? Perhaps you leave them scattered on your desk or piled on the floor. If you’re more organized, you might keep them in a cabinet. This month’s stupid patent, US Patent No. 6,690,400 (the ’400 patent), claims the idea of using “virtual cabinets”...
