[Patents] Re: [Patents] Amazon.

[John Tobey jtobey@john-edwin-tobey.org]

> Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 09:38:36 +0100
> From: Stefane Fermigier <sf@fermigier.com>
> 
> Amazon's patents hurt technology
> 
> http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/20000315/news/current/rebecca.htx

    ``Specifically, thanks to the cluelessness, laziness or
    overburdened state of the PTO, ...''

How about calling it "corruption".

Reporters have explained the situation by applying terms like
clueless, lazy, and overburdened to the PTO, but none of these seems
accurate.  "Cluelessness" implies that a small amount of education
would fix the problem.  "Laziness" suggests that the solution is to
get examiners to work longer or faster.  If they were merely
"overburdened", one would expect adding staff to cure the disease.

While education, proper job motivation, and adequate staffing are all
fine, I think the Duck Test applies in this case.  (If it looks like a
duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it IS a duck.)  USPTO
*policies* (not just specific actions) favor the few and powerful
(corporations and IP professionals) at the expense of the general
public.  It is not caused by some random misfortune.  I would not
hesitate to add corruption to the list of possible causes of the
patent crisis.

-- 
John Tobey, late nite hacker <jtobey@john-edwin-tobey.org>
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]]]             With enough bugs, all eyes are shallow.           [[[
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