All patents are theft

Linux User & Developer ^ | 25 October 2011 | Richard Hillesley

[Cboldt]

-- How did you manage to pay $5K to the Patent Office? --

I'm going to guess that the patent attorney ate some of that in responding to office actions. The Official filing, search, examination, publication, and issue fees total about $2,500 to a small entity.

[Ellendra]

To each their own. Personally, if I spend years developing a new invention, I am darn well going to get it patented.

If anyone doesn’t agree with the idea of patents, they are more than welcome to make their own ideas and inventions public.

[Cboldt]

-- doin my own patent is like removing my own appendix myself --

Pressman's book URGES the inventor to hire the claim language to be at least reviewed by somebody who does that, and better if the expert is hired to write the claims.

I highly recommend Pressman's book to inventors. I've yet to meet one who could write a decent application, but that doesn't mean none are able to do a decent job.

[Straight Vermonter]

That image is someone else’s property. At what point should any property become public domain? After 5 years can I simply move into your house?

You are correct about that but what about abandoned property? Most books for example are never republished after a very short run. It was proposed a few years ago that copyrights holders be required to protect their copyright by filing paperwork every few years showing they wanted to protect it.

Quite a lot of textbook and other works could be in the public demand as a result. The copyright holders no longer have a commercial interest in the work but the material is unavailable none the less.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

As one example, Mickey Mouse is coming up on his 100th birthday. His creators are long dead. Yet the image is still protected by copyright.

His creators are long dead but to whom was the copyright issued? The Walt Disney company? That entity is not dead...yet.

[Jack Hammer]

Pure socialist bullsh*t.

Patents protect one from theft, while, at the same time, protecting intellectual innovation and promoting social progress.

End of story.

[CodeToad]

Nothing wrong with abandoned property laws. We already have them, just not for IP. I would be all for such a property law. Not sure how to formulate it but it should be along the lines that no one else can make specific claim to it and someone should be required to file that they believe the property has been abandoned.

[mbj]

Well, I thank you for you contributions!