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"Patent Markings" Lawsuits Could Run Into the Trillions
bizwriter writes "The latest legal bugaboo facing manufacturers is the false patent marking suit. Using what has been until recently an obscure type of legal action, individuals and enterprising law firms have targeted large manufacturers with lawsuits that can easily run million of dollars — in a case involving a drink cup manufacturer, over $10 trillion — for incorrectly including patent numbers on products. Some companies named in such suits are 3M, Cisco, Pfizer, Monster Cable, and Merck. Even expired patent numbers can be actionable." Sounds like a perfect opportunity for some enlightened appeals court to inject some sense into the debate. What do you think the chances are? Note: if ever there were a page that cries out for the Readability bookmarklet, this is it.
How about we look over patents carefully and allow -anyone- to file a prior art question without going to court but rather put all patent applications online for say ~30 days and open it up to debates for anyone to say that its had prior art which gets looked through before it becomes approved.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I don't know what sucks more - Slashdot's moderation, or me.
I fucked up your mod by mis-clicking, but I can't undo it without posting in this thread. But if I post here, I can't moderate anymore.
Really, one-click modding is stupid. At least make me confirm my mods!
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor