As a holder of several U.S. utility patents, I can attest that stealing patents today is easy to do. Here’s how it works:
1. Inventor spends tons of money developing technology and obtaining patent.
2. Inventor spends tons of money beta-testing, developing markets, business models, etc., etc.
3. Big Japanese company steals patent and markets your product, while saying “sue us”.
4. Inventor spends > $400K on patent prosecution lasting years, while overseas firm saturates market with your patented product, and pocketing money
5. After years in court, inventor wins. No damages are allowed or retroactive moneys.
6. Inventor is allowed to keep money from sales only after the date of the judgement, however the product lifecycle is up, and the foreign firm has already patented the second generation product from the original.
American inventor = screwed
Japanese firm = wealthy
Trust me, that’s exactly how it works.
Hmm, perhaps it would be better for Congress to concentrate their efforts on protecting the American patent system and American inventors. Oh, that’s right, there’s little campaing money in doing that./s
At least you got a patent; for most of us the patent system is so expensive that it might as well not exist.
I have heard this bill doesn’t go far enough for real change. If it’s not now, punitive damages should definitely go from the time of the filing of the suit.