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Patents of Business Destruction

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the something-to-think-about dept.

SnapShot writes "Over on Slate there's an opinion article on the Blackberry patent case. Here's a quote: 'It's easy to bash trolls as evil extortionists, to do so may be to miss an important lesson: Patent trolls aren't evil, but rational and predictable, akin to the mold that eventually grows on rotten meat. They're useful for understanding how the world of software patent got to where it is and what might be done to fix it.' "

4 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Expect the worst by JanneM · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I suspect economical, political and social systems are best built the same way you do strategy analysis.

    Forget about maximizing the best possible outcome in the best possible world. It's not going to happen anyway, so why worry about it? Instead, focus on the worst possible outcome, and create your system so as to minimize that. Any outcome that turns out better than that pessimistic minimum is then just a happy bonus.

    So, make rules for patents that discourages fluff patents and extortion (you need to deposit a substantial sum that is returned upon a successful grant, but witheld if turned down?). Make it reasonably easy to challenge patents when invalid grants have slipped through, but that discourages vapid challenges (loser pays, for example).

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  2. Re:Funny definition of useful by CastrTroy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think that what they are saying, is that although we don't like patent trolls, they are necessary to show us just how bad the patent system really is. It's kind of like saying drunk drivers are good for teaching us how unsafe our cars really are.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  3. Blackberry isn't relevant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you have read the history of the Blackberry vs. NPT case you will see that the Blackberry case isn't a "troll" case. The technology was developed and actually used in a company that went defunct because it never reached "a critical mass". Just because they still retain the patents doesn't make them trolls.

    This still leaves open the question of whether the patents should have ever been issued to begin with. Software patents are asinine. Almost as asinine as being able to patent something that exists in nature.

    Oh, oh!!! Great business idea! Invent a new programming language and patent it. Then when people start releasing software written in it you can sue all of them for infringement.

  4. How to fix patents by nobleheath · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Any patents registered by a company (or individual) that goes Chapter 11 or all the way to bankruptcy should automatically become public domain. If the inventor isn't good enough to make money out of it then it should be open for all.

    The patent trolls that run around gobbling up defunct businesses to exploit other peoples work do nothing to help inovation - they mostly stand in the way. Patents are there to protect the inovators not the scavengers.