Recently, we have seen a lot of satirical posts online. Some, despite being so ridiculous, are believed to be true by some readers. Nevertheless, they are satirical and most take them as jokes. However, what about articles on legitimate papers which paint the wrong picture? (Truth be told, it actually happens pretty frequently) Recently, two opinion articles, "Slowing the Patent Trolls" and "Abusive and Frivolous Patent Suits", were published on The New York Times Opinion Pages and their inaccuracies were disputed by Michael Borella and Dennis Crouch respectively. I'll briefly summarise about the points that were inaccurate in the former here.
With the current ongoing debate over software patents' patentability, instead of being granted easily, "computer-implemented inventions are held to a higher standard than most other types of inventions due to these additional requirements". While we might tend to agree that software patents should not be granted, the complexity of some software patents, or how the claims actually are, may make them patentable. This complexity is one of the reasons the topic is still debated, and simple examples may not help to paint the full picture.
Another interesting point Borella noted is that the US's patent system "purposely encourages the existence of non-practicing entities by making patent property rights freely assignable and eschewing a "working" requirement". This does highlight the point that patent trolls buy patents from numerous individuals and then use some of them to sue those who "infringe", regardless whether the patent is good or bad. Although addressing this issue could mitigate the problem, it also makes it difficult for proper and legitimate businesses from acquiring patents from others especially as a form of defense, when they do not actually use the patents except in litigation.
Certainly, the topic of patents is broad and complicated, as well as constantly evolving. Although the posts were inaccurate and posted at the wrong places, it does show the rising awareness about patents which could still buy the news some grace.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/opinion/slowing-the-patent-trolls.html
http://www.patentdocs.org/2014/03/new-york-times-op-ed-argues-law-takes-misguided-approach-to-software-patents.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/opinion/abusive-and-frivolous-patent-suits.html?ref=opinion
http://patentlyo.com/patent/2014/04/fee-shifting.html
With the current ongoing debate over software patents' patentability, instead of being granted easily, "computer-implemented inventions are held to a higher standard than most other types of inventions due to these additional requirements". While we might tend to agree that software patents should not be granted, the complexity of some software patents, or how the claims actually are, may make them patentable. This complexity is one of the reasons the topic is still debated, and simple examples may not help to paint the full picture.
Another interesting point Borella noted is that the US's patent system "purposely encourages the existence of non-practicing entities by making patent property rights freely assignable and eschewing a "working" requirement". This does highlight the point that patent trolls buy patents from numerous individuals and then use some of them to sue those who "infringe", regardless whether the patent is good or bad. Although addressing this issue could mitigate the problem, it also makes it difficult for proper and legitimate businesses from acquiring patents from others especially as a form of defense, when they do not actually use the patents except in litigation.
Certainly, the topic of patents is broad and complicated, as well as constantly evolving. Although the posts were inaccurate and posted at the wrong places, it does show the rising awareness about patents which could still buy the news some grace.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/opinion/slowing-the-patent-trolls.html
http://www.patentdocs.org/2014/03/new-york-times-op-ed-argues-law-takes-misguided-approach-to-software-patents.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/opinion/abusive-and-frivolous-patent-suits.html?ref=opinion
http://patentlyo.com/patent/2014/04/fee-shifting.html
I think your post covers a broad range of how to deal with the current problems in the patent world. One of the biggest controversy is how stringent the laws should be in order to restrict patent trolls yet continue to protect small companies. I believe that the best approach is the ability to identify and define the different players accurately in order to handle the situations specifically. At then end, we know that there is a problem and it must be addressed.
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