Here's a solution to the problem of frivolous patents or submarine patents. The patent holder, in order to maintain the patent, should report the yearly royalties and profits due to the patent.
Then, provided the time limit (which BTW should be 40-50 years regardless of the lifetime of the author or selling/licensing of the patent) has not been exceeded, the patent is maintained until revenue from it falls below 5% of the peak year's value. To avoid frivolous patents that the holder never uses, a token revenue of say $10,000 could be assigned for the patent's 5th year. Why wait 5 years to do this? To give legitimate patent owners time to develop and begin selling their idea.
So all frivolous patents would expire in the 6th year, yet inventors (or their heirs) of all useful patents would enjoy 40-50 years of income. But if the level of income becomes trivial sooner than that, joe public could then use the idea without fear of legal repercussions. This idea could also apply to copyrights.
Slashdot Mirror
Here's a solution to the problem of frivolous patents or submarine patents. The patent holder, in order to maintain the patent, should report the yearly royalties and profits due to the patent. Then, provided the time limit (which BTW should be 40-50 years regardless of the lifetime of the author or selling/licensing of the patent) has not been exceeded, the patent is maintained until revenue from it falls below 5% of the peak year's value. To avoid frivolous patents that the holder never uses, a token revenue of say $10,000 could be assigned for the patent's 5th year. Why wait 5 years to do this? To give legitimate patent owners time to develop and begin selling their idea. So all frivolous patents would expire in the 6th year, yet inventors (or their heirs) of all useful patents would enjoy 40-50 years of income. But if the level of income becomes trivial sooner than that, joe public could then use the idea without fear of legal repercussions. This idea could also apply to copyrights.