If Joe was arguing that, the argument is flawed. You can't make the rational jump that patent law works the way it is intended; you must prove this.
For example, John Schmoe American might have a great idea, but he doesn't have the $80,000 up-front to pay a patent firm to check if the idea will run afoul of any patents. Even if he does, most likely that patent firm will give him a sizable list of really silly patents that nevertheless he breaches, because you can't so much as wipe your backside without running afoul of some patent or other. The idea behind the USPTO's current system of "grant just about anything" is that John should then take these corporations to court and use e.g. prior art to get rid of the patents, opening the door for him to bring his product to market. This costs a year or two and millions of dollars. Millions of dollars John does not have. John decides to say: Screw it, and doesn't innovate at all. What makes this scenario any less likely than the notion that Patent Law works as intended? Without some sort of proof or empirical evidence I don't see why Joe's argument is valid. On Sep 9, 1:38 pm, B Smith-Mannschott <[email protected]> wrote: > Just a thought that came to me listening to the most recent podcast, when > Joe was once again explaining that the reason patents are important is > because they encourage innovation. > > Consider the following hypothetical: > > - I've been sitting on a juicy software patent (e.g. for placing vertical > banner ads on web pages to exploit a bug in the human visual system to > better sell my product.) for five years. > - In the interim, ten other companies have independently come to the same > conclusion and use this technique. > - Now I sue them, claiming patent infringement. > > But, seeing how ten other companies were willing to 'invent' this without > patenting it, what does that say about the utility of the patent grant in > encouraging this particular innovation? Can anyone honestly argue that this > invention would never have been made but for the promise of a monopoly > granted through the patent system? > > // Ben -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
