re US move to wall off tech unsettles Asian companies - Nikkei Asian Review

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Gregory Aharonian <greg.aharonian () gmail com>
> Date: January 12, 2019 at 12:31:23 AM GMT+9
> To: ip <ip () listbox com>
> Subject: re: [IP] US move to wall off tech unsettles Asian companies - Nikkei Asian Review
>
>
> Dave,
>
> Some thoughts for the IP list.
>
> This Nikkei article discloses how the Trump Administration wants to further restrict Chinese access to U.S. 
> technology by limiting imports.  But like many other articles, this article doesn't discuss one form of U.S. 
> technology "export" that no one can control - the U.S. Patent Databases.  While companies keep some of the latest and 
> most powerful technology as a trade secret, pretty much everything else that is economically and national security 
> valuable is patented.
>
> For example, consider the following IBM patent just published by the USPTO, and now freely available to the entire 
> world, including everyone in China:
>
>        Providing controlled pulses for quantum computing
>        U.S. Patent Application 2019/0013066
>        
> http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220190013066%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20190013066&RS=DN/20190013066
>
> The Chinese government doesn't have to hack into IBM's computer systems to get this, and it doesn't have to demand 
> that IBM "share" this technology as part of some license deal.  All it has to do is click on the above link and the 
> information is "exported" to China.  By itself, a solution to a part of many problems. But with other patents (and 
> engineering articles), a solution to much more valuable quantum computing challenges.
>
> Does anyone in the government realize this?  Every week, the USPTO publishes - for free, to the world - between 5,000 
> and 10,000 new patents and patent applications.  Let's assume that 95% are crap, or of low value.  That still leaves 
> 250 to 500 "gems" (maybe this above IBM patent) we now just "gave" to the Chinese - every week, for free.
>
> While it is generally known that much of the US government ignores the US Patent Office (Medline, the world's most 
> powerful scientific abstracts database doesn't include patent data because it is too low quality, and the DoD has 
> ignored using the information in patent databases for decades), there is no denying that amongst the tons of crap 
> patent applications being filed, there are technological gems highly valuable to any country in the world, including 
> China.  I never see this issue discussed in these news articles shrieking/whining/hairpulling about China's 
> insatiable demand for all things U.S. technology.
>
> Yet, unless the United States withdraws from international patent treaties, there is nothing that can be done to stop 
> the flow of this information.  Sure, there is much noise/crap in the US patent databases, but I am sure that the 
> Chinese government has an office somewhere in Beijing where some of their smartest people sift through new patents 
> and patent applications from around the world (US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Armenia) looking for the gems.
>
> And frankly, as an expert on Chinese technology, I found the attitude in this "blockade" somewhat insulting to China. 
>  Increasingly, Chinese patents and patent applications are like those of the United States and other countries: tons 
> of crap (reinventing the wheel I mean) but also many that are proof of very advanced technological development done 
> in China.  I suspect that there are some Chinese scientists and engineers who are complaining to their government, 
> "Why you are making us review this American crap?", and rightly so.
>
> And worse, because few in the government deeply understand technology (even at DARPA, despite their conceits), there 
> are technology analysis tools being developed - extremely sophisticated tools that themselves are more valuable than 
> the new technologies themselves - that fill in the gaps, so to speak.  That is, consider the population of new 
> technology in recently issued patent applications, and recently issued IEEE/ACM/etc. articles.  All freely available 
> to the world, and covering all but the most supersecret, extremely valuable technologies best kept at trade secrets.
>
> However these latter gems are logical continuations (in a topological sense) of what is publicly available.  And some 
> of these gems can be reconstructed from what is publicly available.  For free  (well, some of these tools are 
> extremely expensive, but nothing for those who care) - beyond the control of governments, and frankly, a global 
> celebration of the U.S. Constitution's call for the "Progress of the Art and Sciences".
>
> Anyway, just some thoughts.
>
> Regards,
>
> Greg Aharonian
> Editor, Internet Patent News Service
>
>
> > On Thu, Jan 10, 2019 at 8:39 PM Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
> >
> > https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-Relations/US-move-to-wall-off-tech-unsettles-Asian-companies
> >
> >
> > https://www.listbox.com
>
> This message was sent to the list address and trashed, but can be found online.



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