IBM Adopts Open Patent Policy

Andy Updegrove writes to mention a New York Times article about IBM's bold new move to reform patent practices. The nation's largest patent holder will adopt several new policies intended to clear up the veil of secrecy and wall of lawsuits that plague the patent process. From the article: "The policy, being announced today, includes standards like clearly identifying the corporate ownership of patents, to avoid filings that cloak authorship under the name of an individual or dummy company. It also asserts that so-called business methods alone -- broad descriptions of ideas, without technical specifics -- should not be patentable. The move by I.B.M. does carry business risks. Patents typically take three or four years after filing to be approved by the patent office. Companies often try to keep patent applications private for as long as possible, to try to hide their technical intentions from rivals."

Comments

Value proposition

[tomstdenis]

Patents on many things are kinda moot. Put a patent on your CPU design, but only a handful of companies on earth can actually make an ASIC...If foundry's are a dime-a-dozen what's your value? [hint: they're not, which is why being able to make reliable chips is a value proposition worth holding onto]

If companies just focused on things they can offer, at qualities no one else can then they'd make money. It's when they get this entitled sense of "I have a right to be making gobs of money regardless of what I do" that we get into this patent mess.

Tom

Re:Value proposition

[Brickwall]

It's when they get this entitled sense of "I have a right to be making gobs of money regardless of what I do" that we get into this patent mess.

But it's not a case of "regardless of what I do" - it's a case of "I did something unique, and I want to be rewarded for it". That's why the US Constitution specifically provides for patents of limited duration. If they truly developed something new, they are entitled to a reward (as opposed to the ridiculous "business model" patents that caused RIM and the Blackberry so much trouble). If IBM is truly leading the way to junk the business model patent, they are doing all of us a service.

Re:Value proposition

[Chacham]

Being obstructed by a THOUGHT is ludicrous. Getting patents on things that all of your competitors could easily do as well means your business is not well founded.

If your competitors can't do it, there is no reason for a patent.

The patent is made to protect the filer. The protection is that it protects his time and money.

If i create the better mouse trap, and the world starts beating a path to my door, i need to invest money to start making more. The problem is, by the time i put the money and effort in to getting my factory going, an old-style mouse trap company will use one production line to make this new one. End result, i'm out all that money because they can outsell me due to preexisting infrastructure. However, if i get a patent, i can put my money and effort into it, knowing that i am protected for a period of time.

Re:Value proposition

[tomstdenis]

You don't have to describe how you made the tiny 65nm circuit, you just have to do it. Can you honestly tell me with an electron scope you could figure out how the circuit was made?

I agree there is a problem if your employees steal your companies technology and take it elsewhere. That's where employee contracts come in handy. I think instead of a Patent act we should have a secrecy act. That is, you can be sued if you take advantage of someone elses secrets by poaching employees or espionage [but not via co-invention].

That way we don't penalize the folk who co-invent ideas (e.g. independently) and we can penalize those who steal company assets.

Tom

Re:Value proposition

[morgan_greywolf]

I agree there is a problem if your employees steal your companies technology and take it elsewhere. That's where employee contracts come in handy. I think instead of a Patent act we should have a secrecy act. That is, you can be sued if you take advantage of someone elses secrets by poaching employees or espionage [but not via co-invention].

We do. It's called trade secret law, and it's a very old form of law rooted in British common law. Virtually every tech company out there makes use of trade secret law on a day-to-day basis. Of course, the problem with trade secret law is this: what if I can figure out how to make a 65nm circuit by examining it with electron microscope? Well, then guess what? The trade secret isn't secret anymore and it loses its protected status. That's where patents come in.

I'm not in favor of abolishing patents -- I think patents are a good thing when used correctly. It's the patent abuse that ruins the whole system. I don't think we should throw out the baby with the bath water. What we need to do is reform the patent system, and IBM has taken a good first step in leading the way. No more business process patents, no more vagueness, and for godsakes, if you haven't implemented your invention yet, you don't deserve a patent. And the USPTO needs to stop granting patents for things that are blatantly obvious to anyone skilled in the art.

Re:Value proposition

[ceoyoyo]

You think that's bad... I was a student in an academic lab that patented all applications of a given algorithm (which we didn't invent) in a major field. No specifics at all, just applications of A in field B.

We've lost sight of what patents are for. If the knowledge contained in the patent is not valuable to the public then it should not be patentable -- let the company keep it as a trade secret (if they can). Patents are a reward the public gives in exchange for the inventor placing useful knowledge in the public domain.

Here's an idea

[dsginter]

Make frivolous patents illegal and punishable by a 10-year FPMITA prison sentence. Then, offer frivolous patent holders a indemnity by turning in their frivolous patents to a patent disposal system (similar to a fire arm turn in). Maybe even give them a lemon cookie for being a good citizen.

Then, allow all patent holders to submit their votes for the most frivolous patents. Prosecute the top 100 holders every month. Rinse, repeat (until their are no more frivolous patents).

Re:Here's an idea

[kfg]

Make frivolous patents illegal and punishable by a 10-year FPMITA prison sentence.

How about saving everyone a lot of time, trouble and expense and just not grant frivolous patents?

Just stamp all such applications "Dumbass" and send 'em back. Problem solved.

KFG

Re:Here's an idea

[Ubergrendle]

legal rule through popular vote results in tyranny of the majority. your penalties are excessively harsh too, for an activity that does no physical harm to another human being.

i agree with your principle, however, of some form of penalty for frivolous patents. Perhaps a ban on filing future patents for a period of time?

a patent review would be a good start. a faster expiry on patents would also be beneficial.

Applause

[Billosaur]

Rapid advances in technology and the rise of industries like software, biotechnology and nanotechnology have resulted in a steep increase in patent applications in recent years. With limited resources, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has been overwhelmed, patent experts say.

And so IBM is taking this bold step and should be commended for its actions. Clearly the USPTO is in over its head thanks to the explosion of technology (brought about in no small part by IBM) and it takes a forward-thinking company to put this stuff out there and risk losing some of their competitive edge. I'm just wondering if this might prove more of a trigger for lawsuits as other comapnies peruse these patent applications looking for infringements on their current patents?

Re:Applause

[anandsr]

Just remember why they are doing this. They believe that congress is slowly but surely moving towards patent reform. And they hope that this step would help to quell the fears of congress and avoid the reform.
They are no way interested in reducing the number of patents they want to obtain every year. They are getting the most patents in any given year, and ofcourse by definition they must be getting the most number of frivolous patents also in any given year.
There is no need for applause till they lobby for patent reforms, specifically rejecting software patents.

Re:Seriously?

[ZachPruckowski]

If the only people who are saying that something is screwed up are the people hurt by it, that's one thing. But it lends a lot more legitimacy to a campaign to have not only victims but beneficiaries calling foul. Not to mention that IBM has a lot more campaigning weight and power than the EFF, GNU Foundation, and everyone else combined.

not often you see

[mackil]

It's not often you see a huge business choose to be "open" like this with the patent process. Especially considering how many business make patent trolling their main money maker. However, while it is rather commendable, I fear that it may hurt them in the long run. Most opposing companies will not be so benevolent. After all, the nice guys always lose...

IBM is trapped by its own invention

[pieterh]

IBM's patent lawyers invented software patents in the first place. You can see what they were thinking... "we patent all our hardware, now more and more of those designs are implemented in software, so we should patent software too".

The trouble is, there is no dividing line between a patent for microcode, and a patent for swinging a pizza. The moment you allow the definition of a software model to be patented, you open the gates to patents on every idea. It just takes time - 10 years - before the patent industry assiduously hacks every single definition, but it happens.

IBM is now very unhappy with the patent situation. They have invested hundreds of millions (billions, probably) in their patent portfolio but it mostly covers older technology where there is less and less licensing opportunity. Meanwhile the patent business is creating record turnover, which deflates their patent portfolio.

Yes, IBM is against business process patents. Big deal. Any business process can be reworked as a software patent. Any border that tries to separate the 'good' software patents from the 'bad' ones can be hacked until it's gone.

The only reason large firms like IBM, SAP, and Microsoft still support the software patent model is because their patent policy is dictated by patent attornies. If the CFO or CTO was in charge, it'd be different.

As for the suggestion that patents were "closed" before... bizarre. The whole justification for granting a patent monopoly is to reward the inventor for publishing his work.

Re:Not so fast

[truthsearch]

There's a reason Ben Franklin didn't patent anything. He felt it would serve society better to share his inventions freely. Yet you claim that without software patents there would be no progress. How many patents did mathematicians and early programmers file for? None. Yet there was progress. Great works of art were created for thousands of years before copyright law and great inventions were created for thousands of years before patent law. IP law exists to create an added incentive and let people make their living by inventing. That does not mean there would be no progress without it.

Re:Not so fast

[giafly]

But there are lots of things which aren't trivial at all.

Name three. I am fed up with the way pro-patent folks claim there are all these great patents out there, then never produce even one as evidence. Here are 10 stinkers - let's see you link to some good patents.

Re:Not so fast

[truthsearch]

The culture has changed, and capitalism is now irreversibly wedged into everyone's brains.

So culture has changed, but it won't change again? Makes no sense to me.

With no financial incentive, nothing gets done.

It always annoys me to hear this argument. If that were so there would be no open source. In fact there might not be any computers at all if it weren't for the early mathematicians and researchers who had little financial incentive. It also presumes people never perform charity work. I assume there's nothing you do in your free time that's productive or creative. There must not be according to your argument.

Your entire time argument is misleading. The reason things develop so fast now is because of all the previous work to build on. When you're starting from nothing inventions will take a long time to come about. But when you're building on past inventions growth is exponential. Think of how many new (truely new, not building on top of anything) inventions have come about in your lifetime. I can't name one.