UK Rethinking Patent Process

from the good-or-bad dept

While the US is looking at various patent reforms that seem likely to make the system much worse, over in the UK they seem to have a slightly better understanding of the issue -- admitting that they're worried that too many "trivial" or "obvious" patents are being granted. The patent office is asking for comments as they try to think about reform. Of course, the existing patent infrastructure (lots of patent lawyers, basically) are probably likely to try to push in the other direction.
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


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2006 @ 9:13am

    Here's an idea...

    How about making patents that merely force everyone to acknowledge the accomplishments of the patent holder.

    "MegaCorp product made possible thanks to contributions by LittleGuy."

    That way we encourage innovation while not forcing the little guys that actually innovated into oblivion. I'm sure a patent holder could make money the rest of his life just for getting credit for inventing something really popular. Even if he isn't able to lead the market.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Jose G, 8 Feb 2006 @ 10:16am

      Re: Here's an idea...

      That's a great idea. LittleGuy can then use that to be a leading consultant on the topic and Megacorp isn't grinded to a halt by patent hordes demanding millions for putting the obvious on paper.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      angry dude, 8 Feb 2006 @ 10:52am

      Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      But, seriously, how many patents do you have ?
      Obviously none.

      Patent is a limited-time property right and changing it to something else will undermine the whole legal framework in US (employment contracts,
      VC investing, university research commercialization...)
      Next time you write about something, please, think about it first...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jerry, 8 Feb 2006 @ 10:51am

    No Subject Given

    "MegaCorp product made possible thanks to contributions by LittleGuy."

    As a matter of fact, MegaCorp owes its existance to all the little guys that get nothing except acknowledgement for their ideas while we rake in millions...$$$

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    giafly, 9 Feb 2006 @ 2:13am

    Why Patents are a Minefield

    "if you do not know, with a reasonable degree of certainty, what the scope of protection of a patent is, you cannot base a business decision on that, particularly one which might involve substantial investment, for example making tools to make a particular "uninfringing" product or such like." - WIPO

    "The very obscure language makes "published" patents extremely difficult to search and review, even by patent professionals." - Wikipedia debate

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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.