Too Many Patents as Bad as Too Few

NonSoftAntiCurve writes "Forbes.com has an interesting article about how too many patents are as bad as too few when it comes to incentives for innovation. 'The tension between the patent as a way to stimulate invention and the patent as a weapon against legitimate competition is inherent in the system.' There is a scary example of how this plays out in practice."

Sound like a martial arts movie plot

[aclarke]

Hey, didn't Jackie Chan make a movie about that Sun/IBM trademark meeting? No wait, that was a Chinese restaurant, not a Sun Microsystems boardroom. And hey, it was a triad, not IBM. And come to think of it Jackie Chan doesn't show up in the Forbes article and kick IBM ass.

Pity though.

Re:Too Many Patents, Like this one on the Wheel

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, you don't have to go and reinvent the wheel.

[ducks for cover]

See the Violence inherent in the system!

[Gorbie]

While the slashcode wouldnb't let me post the transcript...go HERE and get the whole text!

http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/peasant.tx t

Let's apply Moore's Law to tech patents

[wytcld]

Let's face it, new tech both pays off faster - if it's any good - and needs to be supplanted faster. So let's cut in half the patent term for computer-related patents with each Moore iteration. Boy will that be a spur to innovation! Get it out this year 'cause next year you won't own it for as long, if you don't file 'til then.