On 2010 Feb 01, at 14:14, Chris Smolinski wrote:
> If anyone here ever foolishly thinks they should get a patent:
> http://www.tinaja.com/patnt01.asp
Good articles there, Chris.
Ninety-nine percent of the millions of patents granted by the U.S. Patent
Office should never have been granted because they don't pass the test of being
"non-obvious". Unfortunately, this denigrates the one percent of good ideas
which truly deserve them.
I got my name on 6 patents while working for corporations, and as far as I'm
concerned, none of them are worth the electricity used to pipe them over the
internet and display them on a screen. Patents are used for three purposes:
1. By business units that want to be acquired or go public, to pump up their
valuation.
2. To defend against competitors who hold equally obvious patents. If they
sue,
you can settle out of court to use each other's patents.
3. Within corporations, as merit badges in career paths, or weapons in turf
battles.
That's not to say that these are valid reasons in many cases. Happily, none of
them apply to me at this time :)
