Patrick Racz
Serial Inventor and Entrepreneur

Patrick Racz
Serial Inventor and Entrepreneur

Patrick’s story on film

Learn more about the influence of big tech

Legal insights into Patrick’s ongoing patent battle

Keep up to date with Patrick’s fight against Apple

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Patrick successfully conceived, co-invented and patented the world’s first 3 way “Triflow” tap (faucet) & water purification system in 1989. He exited the business in a multi-million-pound buyout in 1998 and started advising senior executives in the music industry on solutions to the forthcoming problem of illegal downloads and piracy over the internet, facilitated by a new generation of portable devices or MP3 players.

By the beginning of 1999, when the internet was still in its infancy, the music industry was already on a collision course with forthcoming Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing sites. Racz had pre-empted the formation of Napster and was already working on new electronic content provisioning technology covering both hardware & software called Smartflash. This revolutionary technology that also covered games, movies and other forms of digital content would go on to become the backbone of what we recognise today as modern-day app stores.

Unknown to Racz at the time, senior executives at Gemplus, a key technology partner working with Smartflash had close ties to Steve Jobs and Apple. During 2001 they disclosed details to Apple of Smartflash and Racz’s plans while also plagiarising his IP and attempting to claim the Smartflash technology as their own. Gemplus then pulled the rug from under his feet putting Smartflash out of businesses and Racz was subsequently left fighting some of the world’s biggest companies including Apple for infringement of his patents.

The first court case against Apple took place in 2015, when Racz was vindicated by a resounding victory and an initial jury award of $533 Million for wilful infringement. The key merits and findings of the case, namely that Apple Infringed on the technology and induced others to infringe remains undisturbed today.

Immediately after the trial, Apple falsely branded Racz as a Patent Troll and issued other defamatory and misleading statements to the press, contrary to the findings in court, claiming that they had invented the technology themselves and that the patent system needed to be reformed to protect them.

From 2015 to 2018, Racz was also forced to defend a series of 48 + costly appeals in separate forums where the panels of judges were stacked with ex-lawyers and close supporters of Apple and their co-defendants.

Patrick Racz maintains that his patents in suit were unlawfully invalidated by stacked panels of judges comprising lawyers who had previously acted for Apple, and through the misapplication of a set of impermissible judicial exceptions.

The primary examiner at the United States Patent Office (USPTO) subsequently considered the evidence surrounding the invalidations, agreed with Racz and issued 2 new patents covering essentially the same technology. Racz was also simultaneously awarded with a new patent from the Japanese Patent Office.

Racz continues his battle to this day.

Patrick is not alone in having his IP infringed by Big Tech and then invalidated by their allies in the USA patent system.

If you have any information or stories you would like to share, please get in touch:

Patrick is not alone in having his IP infringed by Big Tech and then invalidated by their allies in the USA patent system.

If you have any information or stories you would like to share, please get in touch:

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Media enquiries should be directed to: smartflash@borkowski.co.uk