Re: [Patents] Voice of patenting business

[Bernard Lang <Bernard.Lang@inria.fr>]

On Thu, Apr 22, 2004 at 09:03:27AM +0400, Jacek Gancarson wrote:
> At last the voice of *legal business* is spoken out clearly here:
> 
> Bad Patent Reform
> 03.15.04, 4:39 PM ET
> 
> A move by the Federal Trade Commission to overhaul patents could hurt
> entrepreneurs, experts say. Among the suggestions the FTC has proposed to
> Congress: The U.S Patent and Trademark Office should be allowed to declare
> more design innovations to be "obvious" and therefore unworthy of a patent.
> The PTO should also consider the "harm to competition" that a patent might
> cause--and reject a claim that's too disruptive to competitors. The FTC
> would also make it easier to challenge a patent by expanding evidentiary
> guidelines.
> Many venture capitalists and inventors worry that the reform will have a
> chilling effect on innovation. The system we have now "provides a mechanism
> for innovators to recoup research investments," says John Reich, of
> Minneapolis law firm Merchant & Gould, who has represented both inventors
> and global corporations. Take away patent protection, he adds, and "there's
> not a lot of incentive to bring products to market."
> 
> Not surprisingly, corporations are more enthusiastic about the overhaul.
> "The changes would as a general matter reduce the potency of a tool used
> more by small companies," says Polk Wagner, a law professor at the
> University of Pennsylvania.

I do not understand this last statement ... is that FUD

weak patents are more a weapon for those who rely more on
legal threats than on claim quality.  That means rich guys.

Any comment by a lawyer on these issues is suspicious anyway ...  Well
some lawyers have proved intelligence + good faith, but they remain
exceptions.

Bernard

> http://www.forbes.com/feeds/inc/2004/03/15/incinnovation.html

-- 
         Non aux Brevets Logiciels  -  No to Software Patents
           SIGNEZ    http://petition.eurolinux.org/    SIGN

Bernard.Lang@inria.fr             ,_  /\o    \o/    Tel  +33 1 3963 5644
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~lang/  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  Fax  +33 1 3963 5469
            INRIA / B.P. 105 / 78153 Le Chesnay CEDEX / France
         Je n'exprime que mon opinion - I express only my opinion
                 CAGED BEHIND WINDOWS or FREE WITH LINUX