USPTO Awards Patent To Disgraced Scientist For Fraudulent Work
from the I-don't-even dept
Here on Techdirt, we're pretty inured to the excesses of the patent system. But just when you think you've seen everything and plumbed the deepest depths of ridiculousness, along comes something like this:
Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk electrified the science world 10 years ago with his claim that he had created the world's first cloned human embryos and had extracted stem cells from them. But the work was later found to be fraudulent, and Dr. Hwang was fired from his university and convicted of crimes.
But it would be too easy to mock the USPTO for explaining that:
Despite all that, Dr. Hwang has just been awarded an American patent covering the disputed work, leaving some scientists dumbfounded and providing fodder to critics who say the Patent Office is too lax.the system operates on an honor code and that patent examiners cannot independently verify claims.
Instead, I'd like to draw attention to this revealing comment from Kevin E. Noonan, a biotechnology patent lawyer, as quoted in the New York Times story:
"If it's bad, it's not going to be worth very much," Mr. Noonan said. "Who is going to sue on this patent?"
The answer, of course, is many people would -- specifically, patent trolls, who have no problems taking a worthless patent and using the mere threat of litigation to squeeze money out of companies just to get them to go away. That, and patents being granted on discredited ideas, as here, are just some of the many problems that the USPTO needs urgently to address.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+
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
Filed Under: hwang woo-suk, patent, science, stem cells, uspto
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I've got it!
I'll make millions, and/or at least slow down the deluge of stupidity coming out of the patent office, it's a win-win situation.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I've got it!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I've got it!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: I've got it!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: I've got it!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
*pulls out non-patented magic wand (curses)
"USTPO Awards Patent To Everyone For Fraudulent Claims Against Work"
I think it's got a bit more of a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Uh oh. Grammar police just arrived. See ya.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The person with the patent sues the person who ACTUALLY is able to pull it off.
Come up with some ridiculous patent in the hopes that someone is able to create it. Wait until the world uses/needs it and then sue everyone.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Mr. Noonan doesn't seem to recognize the mere threat of litigation as an independent value. And if everything was functioning according to the textbook patent system he would be completely correct.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
/s
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Biggest mistake of his life
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Patent is invalid
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Patent is invalid
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Improved USPTO scrutiny
Whereas presently, patent applications are thrown into a room full of kittens with PATENT GRANTED stamps affixed to their feet; in the future the kittens will no longer be blindfolded in order to afford greater scrutiny to patent applications.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Patents grant someone an exclusive right. Put a little more correctly they remove a normal right from the rest of us. Now I find out all you have to do is claim you have "honor" to take away my rights?!
Wow, America is doing a great job protecting the rights of its citizens!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
kick the cat
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Can You Patent An Idea?
*Insofar as legal terms can be described as �flowery�. Perhaps �fungidly�** might be more appropriate.
**What do you mean that�s not a word?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Patent examiners
So what is the point of even having examiners? That is not a rhetorical question. Do they add any value other than slowing down the process, and thus discouraging the filing of applications somewhat?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"preloaded" patents
I thought that was the whole idea behind patent trolling -- file patents relating to everything you can think of that might conceivably, some day in the future, be discovered, developed, or commercialized ... and then patiently wait years for these things to happen so you can then step in and assert your claim.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]