Patent rights threatened

Scheming is afoot in Congress to create an unjustified loophole in the patent laws for foreign infringers despite dampening the incentive to American businesses to invent. Legislation has been proposed that would facilitate the unauthorized importation of products made outside the United States by means of a process protected by a U.S. patent.

Makes perfect sense to me. Certain business and government circles like the idea of cheap imports. By loosening the patent laws, this will help bring cheaper goods into the country from overseas (like China). It sounds like certain elected officials want to enhance patent piracy abroad rather than tighten it. I wonder if China may be behind this so they can get even more American $$ and they have puppets here that support that idea.

Overall, I see no useful purpose behind such a change in patent laws. Every U.S. company will relocate outside the company so they can violate everyone's patents and import the goods into the U.S. This is incredibly anti-American business. Period.

As you stated earlier in your post, who would benefit by this? Anyone outside the U.S. America's enemies would benefit. Those who have or want restrictive governments which stifle innovation would want this.

True Americans would not want nor benefit by this.

I once consulted a patent attorney. He told me patents were only worth whatever you could afford to protect them in court. That was the sense I got from pabianice's link, as well.

I have had people blatantly attempt to claim a portion of my land was theirs and I caught them trying to sell it....twice. Even though I had paid taxes on it for 30 years andthe previous owners went back to 1885,it cost me attorney fees for a title search, phone calls and letters to the thieves. Thank God for corner posts, or it would have cost me a survey. As it was, it was described in my title back to the original grant in the 1800s and I had ag maps going back to the 1930s.

Over the years in business, I have had net accounts take receipt of merchandise and not pay. They successfully were able to avoid collection agencies, who labeled them "professionals" and, given the relatively modest amounts involved, advised me to write it off if they were out of state. In state, we have access to Small Claims Court, which still costs us, both time and money.

Just like any *right*, it is only worth what you can afford to defend it. If the other side has deep pockets, you can be screwed. I am not sure if a person who is not affluent can sue and collect the costs when they win. But they still need money up front or lawyers don't work.

Look at what people have to go through to protect their First and Second Amendment rights. And then there is eminent domain as practiced recently.

To be very cynical, we have the right to shop, if we have the money.

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