The U.S. patent system is broken, particularly when it comes to software patents. At EFF, we’ve been fighting hard for changes that make the system more sensible. Last month, we got a big victory when we defeated a set of rules that would have mangled one of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (...

It’s no surprise that big patent owners and patent trolls have been trying to wreck the IPR system for years. They’ve tried, and failed, to get federal courts to dismantle IPRs. They’ve tried, and failed, to push legislation that would break the IPR system. And last year, they found a new way to attack IPRs—by convincing the USPTO to propose a set of rules that would have sharply limited the public’s right to challenge bad patents.

That’s when EFF and our supporters knew we had to fight back. Nearly one thousand EFF supporters filed comments with the USPTO using our suggested language, and hundreds more of you wrote your own comments.

Today, we say thank you to everyone who took the time to speak out. Your voice does matter. In fact, the USPTO withdrew all three of the terrible proposals that we focused on.