more on Patent reform in Congress

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Carl Malamud <carl () media org>
Date: May 16, 2005 11:43:58 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Patent reform in Congress


What Rob is missing is that in many cases the patents that are granted
are of highly dubious quality.  While one might respond that there
are administrative and judicial remedies that one can use to defend
against legitimate activity that is being challenged by a "bad"
patent, the truth of the matter is that the courts have been highly
skewed on the side of patent holders, leading legitimate firms to
have a very strong incentive to settle out of court.

In summary, his assumptions are wrong: he didn't invent something
useful, he got a patent because the quality of the examination
process is very bad, he didn't commercialize it because he had no
intention of doing so, and he sold his document to a patent troll
who specializes in gaming the system and extracting rents from
legitimate players.

I'm sure none of this applies to Rob, which is why he was so
puzzled by the need for reform.  :)

Carl


> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Rob Raisch <info () raisch com>
> Date: May 15, 2005 6:24:37 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Re: [IP] Patent reform in Congress
>
>
> Ok, I'm slow about these kinds of things, so let me get this right...
>
> 1. I invent something useful,
> 2. I patent it (which gives me the right to exploit my invention for
> a period of time), and
> 3. I then sell that right to someone else because for whatever reason
> I am unable to commercialize it myself.
> So, the new patent-holder finds an infringer and decides to protect
> their newly purchased property rights?  And that's a "troll"?
> Sounds like the infringer has been amazingly lazy, not done the
> requisite IP homework, and has made money off of an idea they do not
> own and had no rights to exploit.
>
> What am I missing?
> /rr
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