Slashdot Mirror
USPTO to Use Peer to Patent Program
An anonymous reader writes "DailyTech is reporting that the US Patent and Trademark Office is going to start using the Peer to Patent program. From the article:' The US Patent and Trademark Office has been getting praise for officially launching the Peer to Patent program -- the purpose of Peer to Patent is to find patents that have been issued for already made products or items that don't properly qualify for a patent. Because the USPTO usually does not have the manpower and time to thoroughly check every patent that comes into the office, many are unjustly rubber stamped.' The program will utilize a Wiki, among other tools, to get the job done."
'bout time.
This sig rocks the casbah.
I had to check the document date to make sure this wasnt a joke. How do we expect that the patent office will be able to take these peer patent reviews seriously? How will this stand up in a court of law?
Seems a bit shaky.
If you don't vote, you don't matter, so don't waste your time telling me your opinion
It officially opens on May 12. They still have a few days to load it up beforehand.
There doesn't seem to be much incentive for the reviewer though I said the same thing about Wikipedia and been proven wrong. In my opinion, patent law is one of the dirtiest of trades and I don't have much desire to become involved in it at all.
That's exactly why many people will want to help out with this. Slashdot alone has enough people disgusted enough with the patent system to clean things up substantially and help fix it. People can always complain about things, but it's when they're willing to do something about it that things get done.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
who in the public is going to take the time to review 1,000 patent applications a week, search for prior art, and send the relevant art to the USPTO
Yeah, that's like expecting thousands of people to write a complete OS and all the applications for it. It'll never happen.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
What makes you think this will improve matters? Who exactly is going to go reading patents and reviewing them for the patent office?
Lawyers? No... they'd be much more interested in spending their time on similar work that they actually get paid for.
Developers/scientists/engineers? No... (AFAIK, IANAL) most legal advice suggests that you shouldn't go reading about patents in your field, and instead just read patents whenever they become relevant to you. (when you're being sued for infringement, for example)
I struggle to see how the patent office is going to get much out of this. I also struggle to see why people should contribute (without being paid) to such a broken system. Contributing in this way will not make the system any less broken. It will more likely just make it a bit easier to keep running it.
It is astonishing to me that USPTO might be getting a bit of a clue after decades of sucking. They deserve our applause and our help; remember, we're the ones who have been so pissed at them for screwing up the software industry. They look sincere, so bury the hatchet and edit that wiki!
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
"This will no doubt help matters, but still the burden of this work is being put on the wrong people. It should be on those who want the patent in the first place."
But then there is a problem with motivation and bias. Maker of XYZ patent is of course going to say his patent is different than or a vast improvement over patent YXZ, even if the two are virtually identical. The patent submitter has a monetary stake at getting their patent approved, so of course they will do sufficient "research" to "prove" that their patent is unique and appropriate.
Thus the need for independent reviewers. Which is what frightens me somewhat about opening the process to peers. If MS submits a patent request for a new form of technology, Apple, Sun, IBM and who ever else wants to can flood the review panel with peers with a bias. Preventing MS from acquiring a patent (even a valid one) can prove to be financially beneficial to MS's competitors.
I think this system will help the process, but there still needs to be significant over-site to ensure that people are not buying the ability to block competitors' patents.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
The only possible show stopper I see here is that I'm not so sure it would benefit anyone to join this proposed community of "patent clerks." They are hoping for an army of people to read over patents and notice similarities or infringements for proposed patents.
I suspect that the most productive part of this army will be people hired by the companies most likely to be hurt by bad patents. Companies likely to be hurt by a bad patent in a particular industry will quickly find it worth their while to invalidate all the patents in that industry they can find holes in. Do you think IBM, Intel and AMD would like to make sure that no bad chip patents get through? They would, and it's worth good money to them. Don't you think Sony and RIM can think of a few patents currently on the books they wish they'd had a crack at before they were granted? Even Microsoft would love to make sure nobody else gets a potentially competing software patent if they can possibly find prior art or any other hole in the patent application. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Any patent that has flaws that invalidate it should be invalidated. It's the bad patents that screw up everything.
With all of the companies potentially hurt by bad patents, I can assure you that enough volunteer patent examiners will show up out of the woodwork. Sure there will be people who don't have a financial stake in it, but I think in the long run folks like run-of-the-mill slashdotters will be in the minority.
Another reply mentioned willful infringement claims. For the average-joe inventor/programmer/etc. this is a danger, but a big company with an interest in this would just hire different people to do the R&D from those hired to bust bad patents.
Have you ever wondered How to Take Over