Posted on 05/05/2015 6:06:22 PM PDT by Kaslin
In the wake of the Great Recession, the American economy continues to face an anemic recovery as we attempt to return to a period of sustained growth. In fact, just this past week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the gross domestic product grew at a rate of just 0.2 percent between January and March. Businesses – both large and small – are grappling with significant uncertainty and unpredictable days ahead.
As if today’s economic climate wasn’t challenging enough, our innovators and job creators are being held back by another force which is becoming an increasing threat: patent trolls. These faux inventors are destroying the incentive for American entrepreneurs to create new products and businesses, which directly hurts our nation’s economic future.
Patent trolls, often partnering with trial lawyers, comb through thousands of patents, attempting to find vague language in order to file suit against legitimate businesses. Often, these trolls will file dozens of lawsuits in a single day. Even if the majority of lawsuits are thrown out as frivolous, one settlement can lead to millions in profits for the troll. On average, reaching an out-of-court settlement with a troll costs a business approximately $1.3 million.
Our economy must be able to recognize the full potential of our great minds and every idea that can be harnessed. This open exchange of ideas is the epitome of the free market system that has made the American economy the envy of the world.
Fortunately, Congress is currently considering the Innovation Act (H.R. 9), which will ensure that innovators are given space to invent without having to fear patent trolls. The legislation does not affect the patent process or legitimate patent litigation; it only guarantees that certain safeguards are implemented that place the burden on patent trolls to prove their claim before they can extort hard-working job creators.
Just last week, the U.S. Senate committed itself to the patent reform discussion and introduced the Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 (PATENT Act), which has wide bipartisan support. The legislation addresses most of the same major issues as the Innovation Act and calls for greater protections for customers caught up in lawsuits.
Similar legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives during the last session of Congress, but then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to even give the bill a committee hearing. However, there is an opportunity present this session to support – in a bipartisan manner – legislation that protects our nation’s innovators from frivolous litigation, while giving our economy a badly needed shot in the arm.
Conservatives understand that the free market is what drives America and that innovation and invention will be a key to our future and security. The effect of patent trolls’ actions are no different from ad-hoc tax policies which result in innovators – who should be spending their time refining ideas – wasting precious resources in other areas. We must stop these modern day ambulance chasers if we are to continue to promote ideas and innovation.
This is an idea that has persisted throughout the history of our country. Abraham Lincoln, the only president to be awarded a patent said that the patent system “added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius,” underscoring his recognition that the United States must have a robust patent infrastructure.
Now with both the Innovation Act and PATENT Act, it is past time that lawmakers enact legislation to ensure that the innovators in our country are not penalized by anti-progress patent trolls and trial lawyers. Passage of legislation addressing this issue will benefit all Americans.
Patent trolls are bad, but practicing patent holders are worse. The troll doesn’t want to put you out of business. He just wants a piece of your action. It’s like a tax. It’s those patent holders who actually make a patented item that want to shut down every competing producer. They are by far the bigger drain on the economy.
Huh?? If “patent holders” are making a patented item, it’s THEIRS and unless the “other manufacturers” are licensed, they are thieves.
Given that nothing ever good comes out of the house and congress the last 25+ years, I wait with baited breath to learn the bad side of this, the “Oh, and we’ll host all our patents on Chinese servers now” sub part...
Statutory law not withstanding, no they are not thieves. They are just competitors. Patents are not property, even though they are erroneously referred to as “intellectual property”. They are just monopolies imposed by the government.
I’m not quite sure you understand the importance of the patent system to the inventor who goes through a very long and expensive process to get a patent, this is not the same as filing a copyright and generally takes around $20K for patent searches and filings. There are companies that steal inventions and a lot of the screaming about patent trolls comes from those who have no interest in the patent system like open source software devotees. So either you believe a patent is property just like real estate, and if someone builds on your real estate it’s stealing, or you don’t believe it’s property in which case you’ll have to argue with the constitution since the Patent Office is established in it.
As a more layman explanation of the protection the patent system, offers you can read the story of Robert Kearns who invented the intermittent windshield wipers on your car, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kearns. The auto companies wanted to steal his invention and he had to fight them. Was he a patent troll because he wanted to be paid for his creation?
That is not what a patent troll is.
I know that but a lot of companies and inventors that assert their patents are being lumped in with trolls. I’m not talking about a law firm who buys a few patents and sends letters out to everyone. But companies spend a lot of money on patent searches to make sure that they don’t infringe and the ones complaining about the system generally haven’t looked for prior art.
The constitution only gives Congress the right to establish monopolies. It does not make those monopolies property.
Your argument in favor of government monopolies is that anyone who spends a lot of money should be guaranteed a return. What system of property rights is that?
Don't be an ass, that's not what a patent does. A patent refers TO property - the invention itself. Or are you one of those communists who believes the people who actually invent things should be required to release all hold on their property for the "public good"? You know that's called theft, right? Or is it that you just don't care?
Let's not be uncivil.
that's not what a patent does.
That is exactly what a patent does and that is all it does. It creates a monopoly, an artificial shortage, in order to reward the inventor by driving up the price of his invention.
A patent refers TO property - the invention itself.
No it doesn't. It refers to an idea. That's why it isn't property. And that's why copying a patented item isn't stealing.
You're not only wrong, you're a brazen liar. If you had a million dollar patented invention that was suddenly rendered community property by communists like you, you'd damn well call it stealing your property.
Where do you think inventions come from? You spit at creativity, insight, hard work and even genius with - what, exactly? Mere arrogance? Puerile declarations that intellectual property doesn't actually exist? All while thieves like you loot the plans and develop technology you couldn't dream of in a thousand years on your own, all while saying you didn't steal anything? What utter hypocrisy.
And as for "monopolies," it is an extremely limited form of that concept. In fact, it is compensation for the non-directly profitable energy reqirements of inventing the thing in the first place. How is that to be paid back to the inventor, if not through compensation of some sort that would keep it out of the hands of those like you who would loot it away from the person who invented it? How does that "drive up the price" when it never even existed before? With what would you compare it, to claim it has been driven "up"? Or would it simply be cheaper all around if the inventor was ripped off by big money players to begin with, by denying his property even exists? Is that who your represent - megacorps who want first grabs at inventions by virtue of sheer financial power, and to hell with the inventor?
Let's not be uncivil.
Your attempt ot justify theft and redefine property as nonexistent in order to legally enable that theft is the very definition of incivility - thief.
Ping
So you’re telling me, with straight face, that if the ratcheting wrench or some other nifty tool is invented by some poor schmuck and Sears decides to just make the hell out of it with no recompense to the inventor, it’s A-o-K?
If ripping off peoples sweat and toil at the point of it’s bearing fruit isn’t theft, hell, we could just force them to work for people for free. If they didn’t like that, we could just beat them and threaten them at the barrel of a gun.
Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. Creation is not a source of ownership. If it is, then why are patents limited in time? Ownership is ownership after all.
It continues to boggle my mind as to what you are doing here.
Supporting freedom. That includes freedom from parasites.
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