I am convinced that in the larger sense, large entity patenting (obtruse patents requiring huge sums for litigation) are so bad we would be better off having them all invalidated (in fact, at one time, they would have been). I am still convinced that small entity patents can be a force for good (and very hard to abuse).
In this case, though, I am surprised that there was no appeal to the Patent Board of Appeals, a relatively low cost way of having the USPTO overrule itself????
I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, defending the patent system as it exists. It is horrible, taken as a whole (though incrementally getting a little better).
BUT, in the US, asking an expert for help does NOT make the expert a co-inventor, and while not clearly defined in the law, I believe an argument to that precedent would prevail as to authorship, etc. IN THE US, that is.
If we put even the same amount of effort into doing useful things that we put into entertaining ourselves, we would not be losing our leadership position in the world.
Pegging again. If we take the simple, easy out, the lawsuit
is silly, etc.
But let's suppose (and I don't know this is true, but I have seen similar cases) that the company had built up a customer list at considerable cost and effort. Assume further the list is "primo", as well as expensive.
Some guy wants that list (difference between "me-too" and "star salesman" - actual case, here), so he gets hired, gets access to the list KNOWING how valuable it is, then quits, ready to make his fortune.
Different case, right? I saw essentially this happen - the company didn't sue, but at considerable expense they did get the word out to the list what kind of person he was - after that, he found another occupation.
In the same case, he might have preferred to lose a suit.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of "artists" contributing nothing (well, okay, "real-good-feel good", aka nothing) to our economy?
No wonder America's ranking in the world is dropping (well, we still make better "weapons of mass destruction").
Police reports are pretty questionable as it is (there is reason to believe the police, who are trained to "think quickly" are biased on a number of bases, often without even realizing it).
I AM an IP attorney, and Mike Masnick is totally right! These bills are terrible (and actually anti-IP in the long term; not that there is anything good about large-entity IP).
"They rang up the MPAA who sent over an "investigator," who falsely declared that the DVDs were unauthorized, leading the police to seize them"
"The comments that were the most problematic to L&M in the newspaper reports were not, in fact, made by the MPAA but by the police. If anyone is responsible, it should be the police who made them."
So, the police made comments BASED on what the MPAA told them, but the MPAA is not responsible?
Good article, but too biased.
Copyright, (oxymoronic idea?), could be a very good thing.
It is the excessive, gestapo-like way it is done now that is bad.
Phrasing it in terms of good-bad (digital "pegging") rather than trying to define reasonable usage (analog, the way the world actually works) merely confuses the issue.
This proves that if you are allowed to pick and choose which "unbiased" data you want to use, you can prove anything. At this time, for example, by carefully picking only data they want people to consider, the entertainment industry is proving that Hitler was right.
Unbiased data, on the other hand, shows that breaking up AT&T was a VERY good thing, and that breaking up Microsoft (okay, didn't happen - should have) would, at one time, have given us a huge shot in the arm (that we didn't get).
Again, good article, totally agree.
As an IP attorney, I have clients who are trying to get products to the market. Since I do small entity patenting, they are obviously thinly funded, and especially when doing business which is attractive to certain foreign countries, they have found from hard experience that they MUST have SOME IP protection (though most of them agree that 5-10 years would be enough).
However, the way LARGE entity IP is done today serves NO valid purpose (other than increasing campaign "contributions").
Right on! Great article and analysis.
Actually, though, Newton (who, in my opinion, is to Jobs what the Empire State building is to a normal building) said it best:
"If I have accomplished aught, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants".
ANOTHER great news story! Fair and balanced (and not in the sense of Fox News).
Being an IP attorney (but for small entities only, so of no help; in fact, a hindrance; to trolls) I share your concern
with this ruling. Hopefully the trademark office will reverse that holding.
Wow! What an excellent, balanced article! I get so sick of "news" articles that are actually blatantly biased propaganda, and it is so refreshing to see an article like this, that actually IS news (well, opinion too, but fair and balanced (don't be insulted - I know what "fair and balanced" means generally, that is not how I mean it!)).
Yes, when I first started working, I belonged to a union, and it did some VERY good things - made the employer stop discriminating against women wearing shorts that were okay for men, made the employer stop firing people based on race, etc. Most unions today are, yes, evil. So, like you, I am
very conflicted; but I agree with you completely.
While, as an IP attorney, I believe IP done as the founders envisioned do promote innovation, nearly all IP today has the opposite effect, as this article points out.
But, the net effect of attempts to reform the system will only cause trolls, etc., to have to pay legislators more.
Right on, Mike! Here in Mountain View (Google HQ) I often use Google WiFi. I have my own secured account on it, but that is available only in my house. If I go to the local coffee shop, all that is available is open WiFi, provided by Google.
So, If I use open WiFi, as supported by Google, Google is negligent - or I am?
I am getting really sick of all this.
The US government seems be spending an undue amount of money trying to support entertainment (trivia), while spending not nearly enough on making necessities more secure and updated.
We have been buying the minimum price Comcast, but recently we find:
1. The price is going up with no real reason for it,
2. The quality of content is getting more and more abysmal,
3. Over the air (free) TV gives us more channels, much better channels, and is more responsive to our desires in many, many ways.
We are definitely going to cancel. For several years, we got channels we weren't supposed to have, but Comcast invaded our space and took them away - and we found we didn't miss them!
On the post: Luma Labs Discontinues Popular Product Line After Competitor Gets A Patent... Despite Prior Art Going Back Over A Century
Patent reform
In this case, though, I am surprised that there was no appeal to the Patent Board of Appeals, a relatively low cost way of having the USPTO overrule itself????
On the post: How To Become A Scientific Author In Poland: Delete Part Of Someone Else's Article You Think Is Wrong
Co-authorship
BUT, in the US, asking an expert for help does NOT make the expert a co-inventor, and while not clearly defined in the law, I believe an argument to that precedent would prevail as to authorship, etc. IN THE US, that is.
On the post: Believing Legacy Gatekeepers Will Fail To Adapt Is Not The Same As Wanting Them To Fail
RIAA and entertainment business models
On the post: Company Sues Ex-Employee Because He Kept His Personal Twitter Account & Followers
Phonedog
is silly, etc.
But let's suppose (and I don't know this is true, but I have seen similar cases) that the company had built up a customer list at considerable cost and effort. Assume further the list is "primo", as well as expensive.
Some guy wants that list (difference between "me-too" and "star salesman" - actual case, here), so he gets hired, gets access to the list KNOWING how valuable it is, then quits, ready to make his fortune.
Different case, right? I saw essentially this happen - the company didn't sue, but at considerable expense they did get the word out to the list what kind of person he was - after that, he found another occupation.
In the same case, he might have preferred to lose a suit.
On the post: How Sirius' Move Towards 'Direct Licensing' Is Bad For Artists
Licensing deals
No wonder America's ranking in the world is dropping (well, we still make better "weapons of mass destruction").
On the post: Computers That Accurately Guess What Gangs Did What Crimes
Computer use for gang-related crimes
Police reports are pretty questionable as it is (there is reason to believe the police, who are trained to "think quickly" are biased on a number of bases, often without even realizing it).
On the post: The Real Issue With Apple's 'Slide-To-Unlock' Patent: Double Patenting & Bogus Continuations
Continuation patents
Good article.
On the post: US Chamber Of Commerce So Clueless It Thinks You Have To Be 'Anti-IP' To Be Against E-PARASITE Bill
PROTECT-IP/E-PARASITE/SOPA
On the post: MPAA Helped Police Seize 'Pirated' DVDs That Were Actually Fully Authorized
"The comments that were the most problematic to L&M in the newspaper reports were not, in fact, made by the MPAA but by the police. If anyone is responsible, it should be the police who made them."
So, the police made comments BASED on what the MPAA told them, but the MPAA is not responsible?
Try to make a little sense - this doesn't.
On the post: Just As Valve Shows That You Can Compete With Piracy In Russia, Russia Starts Cracking Down On Piracy
Russian Piracy
Copyright, (oxymoronic idea?), could be a very good thing.
It is the excessive, gestapo-like way it is done now that is bad.
Phrasing it in terms of good-bad (digital "pegging") rather than trying to define reasonable usage (analog, the way the world actually works) merely confuses the issue.
On the post: Times Change; Dominant Tech Firms Change
Antitrust
Unbiased data, on the other hand, shows that breaking up AT&T was a VERY good thing, and that breaking up Microsoft (okay, didn't happen - should have) would, at one time, have given us a huge shot in the arm (that we didn't get).
On the post: Interesting Ideas: Can You Peer Review The Entire Internet, Sentence By Sentence
web annotations
I am afraid for too many people, it is "my mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts".
On the post: Transparency Is Not A Zero-Sum Game... But Neither Is Intellectual Property
IP laws
As an IP attorney, I have clients who are trying to get products to the market. Since I do small entity patenting, they are obviously thinly funded, and especially when doing business which is attractive to certain foreign countries, they have found from hard experience that they MUST have SOME IP protection (though most of them agree that 5-10 years would be enough).
However, the way LARGE entity IP is done today serves NO valid purpose (other than increasing campaign "contributions").
On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else... But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?
Jobs, Android, and copying
Actually, though, Newton (who, in my opinion, is to Jobs what the Empire State building is to a normal building) said it best:
"If I have accomplished aught, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants".
On the post: Mojang's Trademark Application Rejected: Too Many 'Scrolls' For The USPTO
Mojang's trademark application
Being an IP attorney (but for small entities only, so of no help; in fact, a hindrance; to trolls) I share your concern
with this ruling. Hopefully the trademark office will reverse that holding.
On the post: Teachers Union Thinks It Blocked Online Classes...But It Didn't
Teacher's Union
Yes, when I first started working, I belonged to a union, and it did some VERY good things - made the employer stop discriminating against women wearing shorts that were okay for men, made the employer stop firing people based on race, etc. Most unions today are, yes, evil. So, like you, I am
very conflicted; but I agree with you completely.
On the post: Chorus Of Mainstream Press Saying The Patent System Is Broken Gets Louder
Patents inhibiting innovation
But, the net effect of attempts to reform the system will only cause trolls, etc., to have to pay legislators more.
On the post: No, Having Open WiFi Does Not Make You 'Negligent' And Liable For $10,000
Open WiFi and negligence
So, If I use open WiFi, as supported by Google, Google is negligent - or I am?
Ridiculous!
On the post: MPAA Calls MPAA Intellectually Dishonest For Claiming That Infringement Is Inevitable
MPAA and Piracy
The US government seems be spending an undue amount of money trying to support entertainment (trivia), while spending not nearly enough on making necessities more secure and updated.
On the post: Will TV Providers Finally Realize That People Really Are Cutting The Cord -- And Not Just Because Of The Economy
Cutting the cord
1. The price is going up with no real reason for it,
2. The quality of content is getting more and more abysmal,
3. Over the air (free) TV gives us more channels, much better channels, and is more responsive to our desires in many, many ways.
We are definitely going to cancel. For several years, we got channels we weren't supposed to have, but Comcast invaded our space and took them away - and we found we didn't miss them!
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