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Crowdsourcing Site Offers Rewards To Bust Patents
holy_calamity writes "Article One Partners is a new startup that offers $50,000 rewards to people that find prior art for certain valuable patents. The company's founder told New Scientist she thought the initiative would improve 'patent quality' by increasing scrutiny on poor patents. She aims to profit by selling the information contributors collect, or trade stocks based on it. Current patents they are looking for help to bust include those being used by Konami to sue Harmonix over Rock Band and Guitar Hero."
Like outsourcing patent examiners after the fact that the real patent examiners have failed to do their job and issued a patent for something that had prior art.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
I suppose you're trying to say only prudes will be offended by that link. But a pixelated penis is a penis nonetheless. I don't want to explain to my coworkers why I've got one sitting on my desktop, complete with pubes.
Not safe for work. Period.
Why not go after patent trolls
The problem with that is that most companies with enough spare money to pay have created ridiculous patents.
For example, the Telco's have ridiculously vague patents they've used to crush innovators like Vonage. A while ago, Microsoft was using language like, "[Insert OSS project demon] violates 23 Microsoft patents."
The unfortunate among us know that Patent litigation is a way to bankrupt under-capitalized competitors. The beauty of this tactic is that most of it stays out of the media and the litigant typically repeats the litigation a variety of ways until the competitor is bankrupt. My definition of "patent troll" would include the fat, lazy and well-capitalized.
So, "patent troll" is a pretty big umbrella.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
Another organization: Peer-to-Patent (aka Community Patent Review)
Currently a pilot project, renewed once per year, as long as it's useful.
Off-topic, I know, but in response to the rhetorical question: "Do cops get a percentage cut of any drug money they capture?" Personally? Not exactly -- legally, anyway -- but ...
Cops rake in millions from drug busts
Report: Cops Keeping Drug Money
"Democracy." It's just a slogan.
Perhaps this one also?
SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - Gibson Guitar Inc has told Activision Inc (ATVI.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) that its wildly popular "Guitar Hero" video games infringe one of Gibson's patents, and Activision has asked a U.S. court to find the claim invalid.
Gibson said the games, in which players press buttons on a guitar-shaped controller in time with notes on a TV screen, violates a 1999 patent for technology to simulate a musical performance.