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EFF Busts Bogus Online Testing Patent
Panaqqa writes "It's taken some time, but the EFF's Patent Busting Project is making progress. In the latest news, the USPTO has now officially rejected one of the 10 awful patents targeted, making the world safe again for administering tests over the Internet. This joins the reexamination of a patent on automated remote access of a computer over a network and the revocation of a patent on recording live performances to CD as notable successes for the EFF."
When a bogus patent is demonstrated to have been filed and defended by an owner who knew it was bogus, the party demonstrating so should be able to claim a reward. Such bogus patents do a lot of damage, from obstructing "progress in science and the useful arts", to clogging up the patent system and the courts. Probably the bogus owner should pay a fine to the government, and the party proving it bogus should get a percentage. If it was granted by incompetence by a government agent, that agency should pay. When the owner exploited an incompetent government agent, they both should pay.
That system would encourage people to expose bogus patents. It would deter bogus filings and incompetent grantings. And it would siphon lawyers away from filing bogus patents into exposing them.
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make install -not war
A patent bounty sounds nice.
If someone proves that your patent is a load of crap then you need to pay them a amount and pay the patent office the same amount for wasting time.
It should make people think twice about getting a patent on something obvious.
The person who finds the dud patent would be compensated and so would the patent office.
The amount would be determined on a case by case basis I think.
Too many variables. Dont want big companies abusing it because they can pay.
One thing I'd like to see is reimbursements of licensing fees that were already collected on pending patents if patents are rejected. That'd (a) Make companies think twice before they file obvious bullshit, (b) Make the patent system more fair in case obvious bullshit is rejected. I'd genuinely enjoy seeing Amazon reimburse the licensing fees for their "one click" patent.