FTC Issues Report Critical Of Patent Policy

hayek writes "The Federal Trade Commission issued a report yesterday regarding failings in current U.S. patent policy. Among other things, the FTC recommends that the burden of proof on parties challenging patents in court be lowered from the current 'clear and convincing' standard, to the easier 'preponderance of the evidence' standard. Even if you don't think the FTC recommendations go far enough, implementing them would be a good start to solving some of the problems caused by the current system." nolife points out a report at Law.com indicating that, under the current system, "Patent examiners have from 8 to 25 hours to read and understand each application, search for prior art, evaluate patentability, communicate with the applicant, work out necessary revisions, and reach and write up conclusions."

Comments

Hey, you know what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck the patent office.

It only serves big money interests anymore. Its a farce. Patenting of software and business processes.

George Bush makes us look like idiots, our patent system is a joke. Hell, we're starting to make canada look like a decent place to live, and that's saying something.

No, fuck the patent office, not because the guys there are personally bad, but just because they're a tool of interests of other than the American people.

Fuck em.