Ronald J Riley 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (786)

• On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2010 @ 11:27am

  Betamax v. VHS - All Marketing

  "Betamax - Sony is a prime example of a copyright that killed a concept."
  
  Copyright had nothing to do with it.
  
  Betamax was a superior technology to VHS. But because VHS had a head start and there fore lots of money behind it VHS ended up prevailing.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2010 @ 11:23am

  Re: Re: Re: Leapfroging

  How about you having the courage to sign your name to what you have to say?
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2010 @ 11:20am

  Re: Re: Leapfrogging

  "The problem with the entire intellectual monopoly debate is that many arguments, such as that one, are made purely on faith, with not a shred of evidence to support them."
  
  There is a great deal of evidence to support this. The problem seems to be that some people do not want to find it or they are so dull that they cannot find it.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2010 @ 11:16am

  Re: Re: Someone has to be original.

  Artists do not produce things which greatly advance society like the Laser, MRI, Pacemaker and so on. Incidently, I know each of those inventors.
  
  We live in a capitalistic society and inventions cost money to produce and to teach via a patent or patents. Inventors cannot afford to invent for just goodwill.
  
  Those who pirate inventions under the guise of being innovators are simply one more face of asset thieves. There is no shortage of hucksters and shysters in society as demonstrated on TechDIRT. People who are unethical and capable of rationalizing why they should be allowed to steal others property.
  
  We live by rule of law. Our constitution lays out rights for inventors and patent law defines the specific terms. Inventors are promised the right to exclude in in so doing the right to profit from their inventions in exchange for teaching the invention. That is a quid pro quo deal. We have kept up our side of the deal and we dam well expect to have our right honored.
  
  At this point the law only gives us one method of recourse, suing slimy thieves.
  
  At the end of twenty years inventions disclosed become public domain. At that point everyone is entitled to do what they want with them.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2010 @ 10:47am

  Re: Re: Someone has to be original.

  Every child copies but as they develop some actually produce completely new ideas.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2010 @ 06:33am

  Leapfroging

  "They force inventors to invent multiple solutions to the same problem, IF they exist."
  
  Often better solutions come from efforts to invent around another invention. It is this process which rapidly advances technology.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2010 @ 04:05am

  Someone has to be original.

  I have always been fascinated by differences in the way peoples thought processes work. Some copy, usually without giving attribution and that is all they can do. Not one original thought in their tiny brains.
  
  Others are creative. They invent new things, products, business methods, etc. Then the copy cat hucksters come out in droves.
  
  When they get caught copying they rationalize that they are just as creative as the person who produced the original ideas.
  
  Well, they are not.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Will The Supreme Court Review Patent Invalidation Standard In Microsoft vs. i4i Case?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 05:11pm

  Re: You are not RIGHT Mike..

  "But dont accuse me of lying, Mike."
  
  It is common for Mike to make comments like this when someone gets his goat. He does not like it when people give him a taste of his own medicine.
  
  That said, he deserves credit for for respecting free speech.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Will The Supreme Court Review Patent Invalidation Standard In Microsoft vs. i4i Case?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 04:45pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Perfectly Simple Fix

  "On nearly every other post on this site, I'm accused of hating big companies and wanting to destroy them. "
  
  Maybe this is cover to throw people off?
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Canadian Spammer Who Ignored US Judgment Discovers Canadian Courts Are Willing To Uphold US Rulings

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 04:12pm

  A Billion Dollars Is Reasonable

  "That said, a billion dollar fine is a ridiculous amount for spam, no matter how annoying you believe spam might be."
  
  What is the cost in terms of man hours of spam. I am willing to bet that lost productivity is far more than a billion dollars. The fine is reasonable.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Gene Simmons Says Sue Your Fans, Take Their Homes; So Why Hasn't He?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 04:06pm

  "Of course, the evidence suggests Simmons is totally wrong" should have read "Of course, the evidence suggests Masnick is totally wrong" at least about patents:)
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 10:17am

  Re: Re: Re: Let's remember - Gluld was the real inventor!!

  You are wrong. Townes most certainly made those claims but he had signed Gordon Gould's invention notebook and ultimately lost the case. It was proven that Gould produced the invention, Gould was inducted to the Inventors Hall of Fame and became a Nobel laureate for being the inventor of the Laser. See:
  
  http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/69.html,
  http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/gould.html,
  http://electronicdesign.com/article/components/gordon-gould-the-long-battle-for-the-laser-patent1. aspx
  
  There has been a problem for some time with professors and others trying to claim student's inventions as their own. It is a shame that Townes did this, because he already had his place in history for the invention of the Maser. As it is, he sullied his reputation.
  
  A good book about this is:
  Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War [Hardcover]
  http://www.amazon.com/Laser-Inventor-Laureate-Thirty-Year-Patent/dp/0684835150
  
  Ronal d J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.
  
  (reply to this) (link to this) (view in chronology)

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 10:12am

  Re: A good argument for old notion of "unearned" income.

  "Patents and copyrights are essentially *unearned* because don't produce any net gains to humanity such as physical goods do."
  
  Big transnational companies float the same red herring arguments all the time. An invention is a product just like when someone buys engineering. No one can produce a product without both the inventions which define the product and the engineering which allows the product to be produced.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 10:07am

  Dead Wrong Again

  You are wrong. Townes most certainly made those claims but he had signed Gordon Gould's invention notebook and ultimately lost the case. It was proven that Gould produced the invention, Gould was inducted to the Inventors Hall of Fame and became a Nobel laureate for being the inventor of the Laser. See:
  
  http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/69.html,
  http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/gould.html,
  http://electronicdesign.com/article/components/gordon-gould-the-long-battle-for-the-laser-patent1.aspx
  
  There has been a problem for some time with professors and others trying to claim student's inventions as their own. It is a shame that Townes did this, because he already had his place in history for the invention of the Maser. As it is, he sullied his reputation.
  
  A good book about this is:
  Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War [Hardcover]
  http://www.amazon.com/Laser-Inventor-Laureate-Thirty-Year-Patent/dp/0684835150
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2010 @ 06:56pm

  Mike Has It Wrong Again

  "It should be noted that once a patent is issued it enjoys by law a presumption that it is valid. Thus, in litigation it is never the burden of the patentee to prove validity, but on the alleged infringer to prove invalidity."
  
  Not so. Companies who are defendants virtually always challenge patent validity through reexamination.
  
  "A patent is approved after just a few hours of review by a patent examiner who is unlikely to be aware of the state of the art."
  
  Again, not true. Hundreds of hours, sometimes many thousands of hours go into presenting a patent application. Then the examiner gets an average of twenty hours to weigh the merits of the submission. They are experts in the art of the submitted application. If they don't have enough time they reject the application, forcing the applicant to pay again and they have another twenty+ hours.
  
  "This is why the presumption of validity makes no sense"
  
  What doesn't make sense is Mike Masnick's constant misrepresentation of facts.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2010 @ 06:46pm

  Re: Let's remember

  Gordon Gould invented the laser. I used an early ruby laser in the sixties and many years later became friends with Gordon Gould.
  
  Gould was a quiet man which at least initially hid a very sharp intellect.
  
  It took Gould thirty years of litigation to get his due. Just like today, big business was able to harass Gould by influencing the patent office.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2010 @ 06:37pm

  Re: Re: Long term

  "Last, an observation. Corporate America arguably has the most powerful tool for influencing legislation: Money. So given this obvious advantage, why don't they pressure congress to change the law if patent lawsuits are bad for big business? "
  
  They do pressure, but inventors have put together a coalition which keeps coming up with creative ways to torpedo their efforts.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2010 @ 06:33pm

  Re: Long term

  "wouldn't the best approach for a big company be to fight any and all bogus patents to the last breath?"
  
  All the long term planners were either tossed out or left over short term management. Those are often the people who are inventing and suing the crap out of big companies when they misappropriate inventions.
  
  Microsoft, RIM, Apple, Google have all tried scorched earth litigation tactics. Every company who does this eventually gets the tar kicked out of them. Google will learn this in due time.
  
  A better approach would be for these companies to license before use.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2010 @ 06:26pm

  Serial Infringers & RICO

  "All those companies should have pooled their funds together and fought the lawsuit."
  
  This sounds like the making of a good civil RICO case.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

• On the post: Why Have So Many Companies Settled Over Ridiculous Patent For 'Online Music Distribution'?

  

  Ronald J Riley ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2010 @ 06:23pm

  Serial Infringers & Capital Punishment

  "Apple, Microsoft, Napster, Rhapsody, BDE (Kazaa), Sony, Sony/Ericsson, Amazon, Netflix, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble and Gamestop."
  
  A group of serial infringers, capitalists when they are selling and socialists when they are dealing with inventors.
  
  Now, capital punishments for infringers does have some merit.
  
  Ronald J. Riley,
  
  Speaking only on my own behalf.
  President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
  Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
  Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
  President - Alliance for American Innovation
  Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
  Washington, DC
  Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.

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