Patent Reform: Some Good, Mostly Bad

from the it's-a-step dept

Well Congress is actually moving forward with its plan to reform the patent system, and (as you might expect) it's a mixture of good and bad ideas. It basically follows the recommendations of the patent office we discussed a couple of months ago. The really bad idea is that they want to make the patent system more like the rest of the world, where the patent goes to the first person who files rather than the first person who comes up with the concept. There's a logistical reason for doing this. It's obviously a lot easier to figure out who was the first to file, rather than the first to invent -- but it's not reasonable if you're really trying to encourage innovation (remember, that's what the patent system is supposed to do). All this really does is give everyone the incentive to file for any idea as quickly as possible, without actually exploring it and seeing if it's really innovative. That overloads the patent system. Also, if someone else came up with the idea before someone filed, then you have to question how "non-obvious" the idea really is. If patents are only supposed to go to non-obvious ideas, how can anyone justify giving a patent to a product that's already been invented? The second idea is to make it easier to challenge a patent after it's been granted or after infringement claims are made. This is a start -- as a patent dispute system really is needed. However, why isn't there a system to dispute a patent before it's granted? That would help clear up the issue before it becomes a problem and let examiners focus on the real inventions, rather than things with prior art or that should be considered obvious.
Hide this

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


  1. identicon
    nonuser, 9 Jun 2005 @ 5:03am

    raise the bar

    When a knowledgeable observer in the relevant field reads a patent, his reaction for shouldn't be one of:

    1. Why didn't I think of that?
    2. Boy, someone filed for a patent for that?
    3. Huh?

    but, for a valid patent, it should be:

    - Wow, let's keep reading to see how they did it!

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.