Boy, is someone ever missing the point! Apparently they know nothing about patent law.
Illustrations (at least one, specifically) are REQUIRED in patents, and where they don't make sense this can lead to strange results.
Further, a disclosure REQUIRES a related illustration, and an illustration REQUIRES a related disclosure (that's what the numbers with leaders are for, for the totally ignorant!).
This is Congress at work. They decided the USPTO should be self-supporting, and since they regularly dip into USPTO funds (they say they no longer do that ...), they have put pressure on the USPTO to generate as much funding as possible. The present Director, David Kappos, is doing just that; killing small entity patenting (they pay half-price; can't have that!!), and putting the award for a patent up for sale. Give the USPTO enough money (and there are multiple "legal" ways) and you can patent anything - say, motherhood.
Do you really think people have the time to read stuff this long?
An old man went to Church. When asked by the pastor how he liked the (very long, tedious) sermon, he said "if you want to sell me a lot of hay, bale it first".
All these things miss the point. So long as donors are allowed to make unlimited contributions to politicians (the worst Supreme Court holding ever), big money will make all the important decisions.
Campaign Finance Reform, anyone?
PTO and inflationary pressures on granting patents
Actually, it is MUCH worse than that. The inflationary pressures apply only to large entity patents, which are known to curb innovation, encourage useless litigation, and generally harm our economy.
Small entity patents have steep discounts (50 to 75 percent) that, considering the need for the USPTO to balance revenue to performance (they are self-supporting), causes the USPTO to tend toward disallowing any small entity patents, even if they are HIGHLY innovative - it is called "getting rid of the loss-leaders".
I have a paper on that I would love to publish!
Yes and no. Yes, we want to protect our foods and medicines; no, legislating alone doesn't do that; it is too prone to industrial lobbying.
What is needed is a strong FDA (something too many politicians DON'T want, probably to appease their big business donors?); and to extend that analogy, clean up the absolutely insane IP laws we already have. Passing yet more laws only muddies the issue.
I don't see it that way. The guy was "fleeing". The Ranger had every right to detain him, if only to talk to him, and he was avoiding even that common courtesy.
Argue that we shouldn't have law enforcement ("somebody shot your child, stole your wallet, and fled? Gee, that's a shame") but if we have law enforcement, and there is a total lack of respect for it on the part of someone, they asked for what they got. I personally feel the Ranger should have been congratulated on enforcing a respect for the law.
Well put. I will add; old media (the "old guard" generally) will feel increasingly uncomfortable with all this; the anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA movements, the "occupy" movements; any move by the rest of us against entrenched interests. That is why it is so important to change government. A politician in California pointed out that he opposed term limits, because the "new" people didn't know how to . I wrote in "that's WHY we have term limits - DUH!".
The problem is the legal system. It allows litigants to pursue "alternative theories", that is, if one lie doesn't work, you can use another.
As an attorney, I believe the legal system needs to be fixed. The underlying thinking even seeps into the IP system, and the results are always bad; encouraging deceit.
WAIT! Why are we "pegging" at an extreme YA (yet again)? We seem to be saying if "they" (Apple, Motorola, Oracle, etc.) don't move aggressively on patents, Google shouldn't, and if "they" DO move aggressively on patents, Google shouldn't???
What happened to fairness, balance of power, etc.? Are these just meaningless terms when applied to Google?
At one time, the nation was dedicated to useful things; and music similar arts were something extra. At that time, we became a great nation; admittedly with very few artists, since only the best stayed in the profession.
Today, we are a nation of "artists", with very few people doing useful things, and it shows.
The comment "The so-called war on drugs is a joke. A sick, sad, stupid joke. It didn't get rid of drugs, it didn't reduce drug use, or drug smuggling, or drug violence, or drug related deaths. It didn't, in fact, do a damned thing. All it does is keep a lot of law enforcement types employed chasing their tails." overlooks the fact that, like Prohibition, stupid, meaningless "wars" like this greatly reduce the prestige of government.
Great article, but I disagree with the "worst part" - the worst part is we are developing huge groups with a very legitimate anger against the injustice of the American system, and they will be life-long antagonists (many will be criminals, and largely due to the inequities they experience).
Right on; though it shouldn't matter whether it helps or hurts the original artist. It is new art.
When Shakespeare developed his work, he undoubtedly "hurt" the people whose work he built on, since he ran his works at the same time they did, and "everyone" wanted to see his plays.
The point is, society profited greatly from his work, less so from the work of the people he borrowed from.
So true. At the same time, the big issue is being ignored; with money tied up by the one percent (think: No New Taxes, or Welfare For The Wealthy), we can't afford teachers, or street improvements, or utility improvements, or ....
So, these people have to "reinvent" themselves and compete with others for the rapidly dwindling jobs, and putting downward pressure on wages and benefits (A TAX ON THE MIDDLE CLASS to finance welfare for the wealthy!).
That is the big problem, even though it is only a part of the overall illness in our economy. I submit it is the biggest part.
VERY encouraging - but "follow the money". With most of the money supply tied up by the wealthy, there is less and less for what used to be middle-class occupations; if we don't reverse that trend (NO to "no new taxes" idiocy), there will be no middle class; only the very wealthy and the very poor.
On the post: What Do You Get When You Strip Patent Illustrations From All Context?
Patent illustrations
Illustrations (at least one, specifically) are REQUIRED in patents, and where they don't make sense this can lead to strange results.
Further, a disclosure REQUIRES a related illustration, and an illustration REQUIRES a related disclosure (that's what the numbers with leaders are for, for the totally ignorant!).
On the post: :-( Samsung, Research In Motion Sued For Making It Easy To Use Emoticons
Ridiculous patents
On the post: Harper's Publisher Presents The Platonic Ideal Specimen Of The 'I'm An Old Fogey Elitist Anti-Internet Luddite' Columns
Luddite comments
An old man went to Church. When asked by the pastor how he liked the (very long, tedious) sermon, he said "if you want to sell me a lot of hay, bale it first".
On the post: Commerce Department Postpones 'Africa IP Forum' After People Point Out How One-Sided It Is
Africa summit
On the post: Company That Issued Bogus Takedown Says It Was All A Mistake, Apologizes
DMCA takedowns
On the post: New Platform Launched To Crowdsource Better Internet-Related Regulation... With Expert Help
Protect the internet and individual rights
Campaign Finance Reform, anyone?
On the post: How The Patent System Is Rigged To Only Expand What's Patentable
PTO and inflationary pressures on granting patents
Small entity patents have steep discounts (50 to 75 percent) that, considering the need for the USPTO to balance revenue to performance (they are self-supporting), causes the USPTO to tend toward disallowing any small entity patents, even if they are HIGHLY innovative - it is called "getting rid of the loss-leaders".
I have a paper on that I would love to publish!
On the post: Do The Differences Between Software Piracy And Media Piracy Matter?
Piracy
What is needed is a strong FDA (something too many politicians DON'T want, probably to appease their big business donors?); and to extend that analogy, clean up the absolutely insane IP laws we already have. Passing yet more laws only muddies the issue.
On the post: Park Ranger Tases Guy Walking Dogs Without A Leash
Tasing in GG Park
Argue that we shouldn't have law enforcement ("somebody shot your child, stole your wallet, and fled? Gee, that's a shame") but if we have law enforcement, and there is a total lack of respect for it on the part of someone, they asked for what they got. I personally feel the Ranger should have been congratulated on enforcing a respect for the law.
On the post: SOPA Strikedown Aftermath: Old Media Cannot Tell The Narrative Of One Million People
Old Media
On the post: Schrödinger's Download: Whether Or Not An iTunes Music Sale Is A 'Sale' Depends On Who's Suing
shroedinger's cat and music
As an attorney, I believe the legal system needs to be fixed. The underlying thinking even seeps into the IP system, and the results are always bad; encouraging deceit.
On the post: It's Time To Let Politicians Know That Using Secretive Trade Agreements To Meddle With The Internet Is Unacceptable
ACTA et al
On the post: DailyDirt: Edible Clothing
Edible clothing
On the post: If Google Is Serious About Reforming Patent Mess, It Should Make A Bold Statement And Stop Using Motorola Patents To Demand Cash
Google and the Motorola patents
What happened to fairness, balance of power, etc.? Are these just meaningless terms when applied to Google?
On the post: The Rise Of The 'Professional Amateur' And The Fall Of Gated, Exclusionary 'Clubs'
Insanity
Today, we are a nation of "artists", with very few people doing useful things, and it shows.
On the post: Mike C's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
War on drugs
On the post: One Nation, Under Guard
"Justice" in the US
On the post: When Judges Are Determining Whether Or Not Art Should Exist... We Have A Problem
Prince's work
When Shakespeare developed his work, he undoubtedly "hurt" the people whose work he built on, since he ran his works at the same time they did, and "everyone" wanted to see his plays.
The point is, society profited greatly from his work, less so from the work of the people he borrowed from.
On the post: If Politicians Pushing SOPA/PIPA Want To Create Jobs, They Should Support The Internet -- And Stop Treating Copyright Companies As Special
Internet and jobs
So, these people have to "reinvent" themselves and compete with others for the rapidly dwindling jobs, and putting downward pressure on wages and benefits (A TAX ON THE MIDDLE CLASS to finance welfare for the wealthy!).
That is the big problem, even though it is only a part of the overall illness in our economy. I submit it is the biggest part.
On the post: Young People Followed SOPA News More Than Election News
Young people follow SOPA
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