eBay For Patents?

ContinuousPark writes: "Former UCLA professor Nir Kossovsky has created a website called The Patent & License Exchange. It's basically an eBay for intellectual property. The idea is that there are so many patents granted but yet very few real commercial applications of them. So now it's easier to buy licenses because patent holders will actively promote their patents in this marketplace. Now, I wonder what will happen when they start trading software patents? Would you buy a 1-Click patent or something as trivial as that? How much would you pay?"

Comments

Oh great... more silly patents, here we come

[CmndrKrypto]

Coming soon:
"One click, two click, red click, blue click... All patented."
-apologies to Dr. Seuss

Really though, this idea will only encourage more patenting of silly things. If people know there is a market for something, then they will create product to provide for that market. Accordingly, if this "e-bay for patents" becomes successful, we will have people patenting things that really shouldn't be patented (like one-click ordering) because they know they can sell them. Further, if they are selling them cheaply enough, the whole patent process is undermined: Rather than having to spend a few million dollars to challenge a frivolous patent, you can just buy it for $100. And given the volume this will create, the patent office will become even less careful about checking for prior art. Really, this idea just encourages people to patent everything in order to try and make a quick buck.

But, I guess the domain name campers need something else to do now. . .

One Small Problem...

[hypergeek]

Unfortunately, for patent reasons, you must click twice to purchase the one-click shopping patent. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
The Management