Gator Continues To Run From Spyware Label... >>
<< Eight More Stock Bubble Lawsuits Tossed
 tdicon 

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Wed, Oct 29th 2003 11:30pm





FTC Says It's Time To Reform Patent System

from the well,-it's-about-time dept

While plenty of folks in the tech world have been screaming at the top of our lungs on this topic for a long, long time, we've mostly been ignored. Now, however, even the FTC is saying that our current patent system has some serious problems, and are suggesting that patents be harder to get, and easier to challenge. They've put out a report saying that too many bad patents are being issued and are doing much more to harm innovation than to encourage it. The USPTO says they're still reading the report. The big stumbling block in all of this, of course, is funding. The PTO would need additional funding from Congress, and despite all their worries about intellectual property when it comes to music, most politicians don't really care about patent issues.

5 Comments | Leave a Comment

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1.  
    identicon
    Bt Garner, Oct 30th, 2003 @ 3:38am

    No Subject Given

    Although I agree that patenst should be given more scrutiny, I also feel that they need to be less expensive. For a regular person to file and protect a patent, it can cost thousands of dollars right now ($8,000 by one estimation).

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    identicon
    Bob Bechtel, Oct 30th, 2003 @ 5:54am

    Getting the attention of Congress

    So, let's apply for (and get) some business process patents on political fundraising, campaign planning/logistics, etc. and sue them the next time they try running for office. I would think that might cut through the noise...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    w.h., Oct 30th, 2003 @ 8:20am

    No Subject Given

    My personal brainstorm would be to charge some sort of tax on patent royalty payments which goes to fund the USPTO.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 30th, 2003 @ 3:56pm

    No Subject Given

    I think it would be funny to attempt to patent the process of patenting patents and sue the uspto when they issue it. Heh Heh...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    identicon
    mhh5, Oct 30th, 2003 @ 6:49pm

    hmmm.

    I think the answer is to keep the patenting process the same as it is now, but make it a lot easier to challenge and invalidate patents as the articles states.... And make the "challenge" fees go to the USPTO instead of random lawyers.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Save me a cookie
  • Note: A CRLF will be replaced by a break tag (<br>), all other allowable HTML will remain intact
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Gator Continues To Run From Spyware Label... >>
<< Eight More Stock Bubble Lawsuits Tossed
 tdicon 
Follow Techdirt
Flattr rss rss
A word from our Sponsors...
Sponsored Resource
Essential Reading
Techdirt Reading List
Techdirt Insider Chat

A word from our Sponsors...
Recent Stories

Thursday

4:01pm: Adam Savage On Why Copyright And Trademark Holders Need To Get Over Their Obsession With 'Control' (3)
3:01pm: Partisanship Over Spying On Journalists Is Stupid: Spying On Journalists Is Bad, Period (9)
2:00pm: Magic Hat Brewery Sues West Sixth Brewing, Claiming 6 Looks Too Much Like 9 (23)
1:01pm: Filmmaker Behind The Pirate Bay Documentary Says Bogus DMCA Takedowns Take Away His Free Speech (63)
12:04pm: Vermont Declares War On Patent Trolls; Passes New Law And Sues Notorious Patent Troll (7)
11:05am: Prenda Lawyer Says Georgia Court Should Ignore Judge Wright's Order Because... Look! Hackers! (32)
10:01am: Chicago School System On FOIA Requests: Stonewalling, Obfuscation, & Paper-Shredding (19)
8:57am: VOD Service Acetrax Shutting Down, Forcing Customers Through DRM Hoops To Retain Their Purchased Movies (31)
7:58am: Man Butt Dials 911 While Discussing Murder Plot (18)
5:51am: Kim Dotcom Threatens To Sue Google, Facebook And Twitter Over 2-Factor Authentication Patent If They Don't Help Him (143)
More arrow
A word from our Sponsors...

Close

Email This