Congress Moves Forward With Useless Patent Reform That Won't Fix Any Real Problems

from the too-bad,-so-sad dept

With Congress and the President pretending that a bad patent reform bill is all about “creating jobs” even as there’s little evidence that the reforms will actually do anything, Congress appears to be poised to approve the bill. Of course, the bill does almost nothing to address the real problems of the patent system, but that won’t stop the grandstanding. More important, it won’t stop the political back-scratching. While Congress won’t debate the bigger issues, they will be considering amendments that benefit a particular constituency rather than looking at anything that will actually benefit innovation or the economy.

Filed Under: ,

Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Congress Moves Forward With Useless Patent Reform That Won't Fix Any Real Problems”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
33 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re:2 Re:

No, all I am saying is that there are issues being addressed by legislation, and those are being “solved”. It might not be the issues Mike thinks are the most important, or the legislation might not accomplish what Mike wants (significant limitations on patents), but they are not just randomly playing with patents for fun.

The assumption is that the only problems or issues for Patents are the ones Mike brings to the table, and that would be wrong.

BeeAitch (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:3 Re:

“…they are not just randomly playing with patents for fun.”

Mike has never claimed this. If you actually read the post (I know it’s hard, but c’mon, it’s a short post for chrissakes):

While Congress won’t debate the bigger issues, they will be considering amendments that benefit a particular constituency rather than looking at anything that will actually benefit innovation or the economy.

Reading is fun!

Steve R. (profile) says:

Appearance Over Substance

As you watch the machinations and posturing of our politicians it is all about the appearance of doing something. The fact that the “something” is nothing more than smoke-and-mirrors is inconsequential. Our politicians continue to simply kick-the-can down the road and claim that they have successfully made the tough decisions for which we should be grateful. Disgusting.

staff (profile) says:

patent bill is bad for America

Masnick, for once we agree.

“patent reform”

Just because they call it ?reform? doesn?t mean it is.

The patent bill is nothing less than another monumental federal giveaway for banks, huge multinationals, and China and an off shoring job killing nightmare for America. Even the leading patent expert in China has stated the bill will help them steal our inventions. Who are the supporters of this bill working for??

Patent reform is a fraud on America. This bill will not do what they claim it will. What it will do is help large multinational corporations maintain their monopolies by robbing and killing their small entity and startup competitors (so it will do exactly what the large multinationals paid for) and with them the jobs they would have created. The bill will make it harder and more expensive for small firms to get and enforce their patents. Without patents we cant get funded. Yet small entities create the lion’s share of new jobs. According to recent studies by the Kauffman Foundation and economists at the U.S. Census Bureau, ?startups aren?t everything when it comes to job growth. They?re the only thing.? This bill is a wholesale slaughter of US jobs. Those wishing to help in the fight to defeat this bill should contact us as below.

Small entities and inventors have been given far too little voice on this bill when one considers that they rely far more heavily on the patent system than do large firms who can control their markets by their size alone. The smaller the firm, the more they rely on patents -especially startups and individual inventors. Yet Congress has almost completely ignored the testimony of inventors. Congress tinkering with patent law while gagging inventors is like a surgeon operating before examining the patient.

Please see http://truereform.piausa.org/default.html for a different/opposing view on patent reform.
http://docs.piausa.org/

patent litigation (user link) says:

senator speaks

Senator Maria Cantwell may have said it best: “This is not a patent reform bill. This is a big corporation patent give away that tramples on the rights of small inventors.” It’s certainly a shame that Sen. Coburn’s amendment (ending fee diversion by Congress) didn’t stand a chance. But considering the current political climate, I suppose it’s not surprising.

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...