Posted on 04/11/2005 6:38:54 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
IBM has called for tighter regulation of patents and a review of intellectual property ownership issues in collaborative software development.
Big Blue -- one of the largest patent-holders in the United States -- detailed its position at a media event in New York last week. Jim Stallings, vice-president, intellectual property and standards, launched an attack on the current patent process, arguing the methods adopted by the United States Patent office are flawed.
"There has been a dramatic increase in the number of filings of patents recently, around the world, but particularly in the United States," Stallings said.
"What's happened is it's challenged examiners' ability to inspect history, so the bias has been towards granting the patent," he said. "There is a process for after it is granted to challenge it. It's a very weak process. We are saying that process needs to be enhanced. It should not only be the job of the examiner, which is an individual, to grant that patent and to inspect prior art".
(Excerpt) Read more at zdnet.com.au ...
At the IBM plant at which I work there is an enormous bulletin board with last year's IBM patents posted on it. Everytime I walk by it I am amazed.
Look everybody! The "king of the hill" is proposing hill-climbing regulatory reform!
The original intent of patents was just that... to encourage innovation.
Now, lawyers seem to think the purpose of patents is to create toll-roads on the information highway to line their pockets. "Patent barratry," I call it.
Tell me how Amazon's one-click shopping patent encourages innovation? (This is a rhetorical question.)
Bump for later
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