Blackberry Users Cross Their Thumbs
from the time-to-reform-the-patent-system dept
Nothing particularly new, but a good overview of the legal case between RIM and NTP, which threatens to force RIM to stop selling Blackberries in the US. As the article points out, the chance of RIM really being forced to stop selling the devices is fairly slim. If they lose the appeals in the case, they'll probably end up just licensing the technology to keep going. The more interesting issue is whether or not NTP will then start going after other wireless email providers. Once again, this is an example of why current patent laws need to be reformed. Here's a situation where a company came up with an idea, but did nothing with it, while another company that actually innovated completely independently has to pay them a licensing fee. That's not encouraging innovation. It's encouraging people to file for patents and be lazy, while they wait for more savvy companies to actually innovate.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
My idea, my patent...laziness is irrelevant
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: My idea, my patent...laziness is irrelevant
Sorry. This system does NOT work.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: My idea, my patent...laziness is irrelevant
Big words from an anonymous coward. How can we believe you if you don't even have the guts to show us who you really are?
So, if it works so well, why are patents continuously given for ideas which have obvious prior-arts, such as the method for swinging on a swing, or menus on a website?
Show me one patent in which the patent holder who didn't sell any products or services based on the patent, and sued everyone else who did, actually innovated anything. I don't think you'd be able to find one.
The patent system may be "fair", but it is broken, and it needs to be reworked. The ultimate motivation of a patent is to reward, for a limited time, the innovation of a "new" idea (or atleast a new implementation of an old idea.) While there are an awful lot of good patents out there, there are just as many patents given for old implementations of old ideas, specifically designed to be used in making money off of others and not innovating anything.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Not Perfect, but Working
And granted, there ARE abuses of the system - there are several companies that do nothing but sue people. And the he reverse is also true. There have been great innovators who have been granted patents only to die as business failures (there is a great article on the Wright Brothers in this month's Invention and Technology magazine)
But having a patent being viloated is not an instant cash machine - my father has one being violated by a large multinational, and he'll never see a cent. Years of litigation and a questionable payout don't make it work while. Under Mike's reasoning, since the multinational is making a product, and my father's company went belly up, this situation is okay since they are the ones actually using the patent. I don't see it this way, but in practice this is what happens MOST of the time.
The bottom line is if you look around you (assuming you live in the U.S.) there is innovation, great products, a vibrant VC community and entrepreneurs all over the place. Much of this is driven by the patent process as we know it. While there are a few bad apples out there, the overall effect has been to generate enourmous wealth while creating products that make people's life easier.
No process is going to be perfect, and while ours could use some tweaking here an there, it is the best in the world if you look at the aggregate results.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]