The path from the discovery of the CRISPR/Cas mechanism as part of bacteria’s adaptive immune system to the use of this pathway in the food industry and later as a breakthrough gene-editing tool is a good illustration of the power of collaboration among scientists across disciplines. Yet CRISPR’s development also serves as a salient warning of how failing to assign clear and up-front ownership of intellectual property (IP) can result in prolonged and costly legal friction.
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Friday, May 22, 2015
Patent reform could be end of invention
Invention in America has turned ugly – it costs too much and risks are too high.
So what happened to bring this kind of damage to all of us? I think it’s because we are hunting a comic book character – a patent troll. Many describe this fictitious character as an unscrupulous inventor who sues a small business for infringement. The small business has to settle even though it doesn’t feel they infringe, because it is far too expensive and risky to fight it.
To slay the patent trolls, since 2005, virtually every significant change to [US] patent law has had the by-product of increasing the risks and costs for inventors. The America Invents Act did this in 2011, and now, four years later, we are told the patent troll problem has worsened and we need to pass the Innovation Act, which would further raise those risks and costs. The result is that the solution is creating a new problem.
So what happened to bring this kind of damage to all of us? I think it’s because we are hunting a comic book character – a patent troll. Many describe this fictitious character as an unscrupulous inventor who sues a small business for infringement. The small business has to settle even though it doesn’t feel they infringe, because it is far too expensive and risky to fight it.
To slay the patent trolls, since 2005, virtually every significant change to [US] patent law has had the by-product of increasing the risks and costs for inventors. The America Invents Act did this in 2011, and now, four years later, we are told the patent troll problem has worsened and we need to pass the Innovation Act, which would further raise those risks and costs. The result is that the solution is creating a new problem.
How to kill the next generation of startups
It’s one of the slickest bait-and-switch maneuvers in recent congressional history. A bill advertised as a targeted approach to reining in patent trolls who extort small businesses has been twisted into a measure to immunize big tech companies against the patent rights of the startups and small businesses who create nearly all breakthrough innovation and job growth in the U.S.
The last time a legislative miscarriage of this scale occurred, it was the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which was supposed to prevent financial misconduct by big businesses like Enron. Instead, the law burdened small public companies with multi-million-dollar accounting costs and killed the IPO market for nearly a decade, while still allowing the biggest banks in the world — all of them Sarbanes-Oxley compliant — to plunge the world into the economy-shattering financial meltdown of 2008.
Is America about to shoot itself in the foot again — only this time with patent rather than accounting reform bullets?
The last time a legislative miscarriage of this scale occurred, it was the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which was supposed to prevent financial misconduct by big businesses like Enron. Instead, the law burdened small public companies with multi-million-dollar accounting costs and killed the IPO market for nearly a decade, while still allowing the biggest banks in the world — all of them Sarbanes-Oxley compliant — to plunge the world into the economy-shattering financial meltdown of 2008.
Is America about to shoot itself in the foot again — only this time with patent rather than accounting reform bullets?
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Congress must thwart patent trolls, promote innovation
We at Collage.com make custom products like photo books and photo blankets for anyone to make using simple and powerful software tools our team designs in-house.
We're always rolling out new features and new products but are worried about the threat posed by "patent trolls," shell companies that exist solely to extort other companies for alleged patent infringement.
We're always rolling out new features and new products but are worried about the threat posed by "patent trolls," shell companies that exist solely to extort other companies for alleged patent infringement.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
If patent reform goes wrong
Let me start with a disclaimer that may soon become obvious to you all, I’m the least expert member of this panel when it comes to analyzing the specifics of the pending patent reform bills and how they will impact various constituencies. Luckily, the other panelists more than make up for my deficiencies.
If we try and look at the current patent reform debate objectively there are some overall themes it might be helpful to consider. One is what a poor job we have done as a community over the years presenting the importance of the patent system to the American public and our political leaders. That’s now come back to bite us.
If we try and look at the current patent reform debate objectively there are some overall themes it might be helpful to consider. One is what a poor job we have done as a community over the years presenting the importance of the patent system to the American public and our political leaders. That’s now come back to bite us.
Saturday, May 09, 2015
Why America’s patent system is not killing innovation
U.S. laws over intellectual property give companies the incentive to invest billions in research and development of new products and services.
“Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.”
The old saying, often attributed to Mark Twain, is as applicable today as in his time. And in the intellectual property arena, a “good story” has been going around recounting the death of American innovation at the hands of an outmoded and obstructive patent system. But, again to paraphrase Twain, rumors of innovation’s death have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, American innovation is thriving—and not in spite of patents but because of them.
The old saying, often attributed to Mark Twain, is as applicable today as in his time. And in the intellectual property arena, a “good story” has been going around recounting the death of American innovation at the hands of an outmoded and obstructive patent system. But, again to paraphrase Twain, rumors of innovation’s death have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, American innovation is thriving—and not in spite of patents but because of them.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
The Problem With Software Patents
Elia Freeman writes
"Patents do not lead to innovation. In fact, I would argue that patents cause a dearth of (again, software) innovation. Software is always built in layers. One guy’s idea is used to generate the next set of ideas, of which the next guy builds on. Interested in Twitter? What if SMS had been patented. Or instant messaging. You’d never had seen it. How about Facebook? What if News Corp had patented the timeline for MySpace. There is very little invention in the software space. Almost all has some lineage to something that came before, physical or otherwise."
Source Elia Insider
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Quora: Costs and benefits of patents for start-ups
Advice and experience from someone who's been there
Ken Tola's answer to In what scenarios will software patents filed during the early stages of a startup become a defensive barrier?:
"patents and NDA's are only as good as your lawyers and your legal budgets. Having been involved in patent litigation, I can tell you that they are easily some of the most complex cases around and the uncertainty of winning a case is extremely high. "To go further down the negative path, it takes 2-3 years to get a patent and about $50K - do you really have that kind of money?"It looks like his experience hasn't been that great but he sees them as a necessary evil to get early seed money.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Blackboard, Slashdotting, Ignorants and Apologists
Blackboard, Slashdotting, Ignorants and Apologists
By apthorpe(apthorpe)
Theoretically, the whole notion of software patents is absurd. It is accepted that mathematics may not be patented and software is nothing but mathematical notation. @Ed Garay. I'm glad someone is having an enjoyable experience with ...
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