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How to Become a Patent Millionaire

Posted by michael on from the perpetual-motion-device dept.

An anonymous reader writes "SF Gate has an article about people who patent ideas for things they have no intentions of building, hoping to license technology or block competitors from doing something similar. As if the patent system weren't screwed up enough already."

5 of 500 comments (clear)

  1. This is why by fudgefactor7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We need a department that has the power to review and revoke a patent. If you're not going to produce what you patent, or if your patent is overly broad (or just plain stupid) it should be revoked.

    1. Re:This is why by Zathrus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We do. It's called the US Patent and Trademark Office.

      Problem is, it doesn't work as well as it should.

    2. Re:This is why by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where do you draw the line as to what is being developed and what is not?

      "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, is the plaintiff a bona fide inventor, or just some jerk trying to get in the way of progress?"

      We've got a system for deciding issues of fact. I say we use it, and give the jury the authority to bitch-slap somebody like Fernandez.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    3. Re:This is why by Moofie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The Wright Brothers tried to patent the notion of powered flight.

      When Glenn Curtiss decided to use hinged ailerons instead of wing warping to provide roll control on his aircraft, the Wright Brothers tried to sue him for patent infringement.

      So, you've unintentionally demonstrated how harmful patents can be to improving the state of the art. It is not practical to build large airplanes with wing warping (at least, not with current materials) but ailerons work just great. Had it not been for the US Government nationalizing the Wrights' patents, the state of the art would have been set back by decades.

      How can you patent something that happens in nature all the time?

      --
      Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  2. Legal consistency by El · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's see now... if I register a domain name with the intent of selling it to someone else instead of using it myself, I'm "cybersquating" and ICANN will forcibly take the domain name aways from me. However, if I register an idea with the intent of selling to someone else instead of using it myself, the US Patent Office will assist me in extorting money out of anyone who wishes to sell a product based on a simular idea? I find this curiously inconsistent.

    --

    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney