Big Win in the War Against Patents
|
In this case, which had some of largest technology companies in the world arguing on both sides, the Supreme Court has removed a very weak test for whether an invention is obvious, making it much harder to get a patent on an obvious technique, such as one that merely combines several other inventions in an obvious way. This is huge news. Many of the worst and most egregious patents out there simply take a known idea and add an obvious twist to it. With this new decision, the court has made it much harder to get a patent in this way. Even better, it looks as if it will be possible to now use this ruling to go after other existing bad patents that were based on obvious ideas. This one court ruling could possibly lead to the removal of many of the worst patents out there today and finally make some real innovation possible.
"We build and create by bringing to the tangible and palpable reality around us new works based on instinct, simple logic, ordinary inferences, extraordinary ideas, and sometimes even genius. These advances, once part of our shared knowledge, define a new threshold from which innovation starts once more. And as progress beginning from higher levels of achievement is expected in the normal course, the results of ordinary innovation are not the subject of exclusive rights under the patent laws. Were it otherwise patents might stifle, rather than promote, the progress of useful arts." Couldn't have said it better myself. |
When it comes to technology patents and the effect they have on innovation and the ability to use and create technology, the news is usually on the For more IT related content on the blogosphere, check out www.ithub.com
Comments (4)
This country (USA) used to have laws based on common sense more than anything else. Whatever happened to common sense!?
Posted by florin | May 2, 2007 3:22 AM
I agree. It often seems that when I read legislation and many legal decisions that the first thing that gets thrown out the door is logic.
Posted by Jim Rapoza | May 2, 2007 10:38 AM
What about Domain Names - What would really make sense?
With brick & mortar companies spending years to build their businesses and develop a following, is there any logic to someone dropping a few bucks down on every domain name variation of an established company and blackmailing them to pay for a name that has nothing to do with the domain holder.
A company I work with was just informed that xxxxxx.us is available. So is xxxxxx.co and a number of other suffixes.
Bottom line is that the ability for someone to simply purchase domain names that have nothing to do with them personally or their company could be considered theft of intellectual property or theft and misuse of logos or copywrited material.
How can this abuse be curtailed?
Especially when it is in the financial interest of companies that earn their profits by having every variation of a company's name plus suffix to be registered with them. It is not productive for them to enter this fight, but shouldn't a person registering a domain need to prove they aren't stealing someone else's good name?
Regards,
Posted by Tom | May 3, 2007 2:39 PM
I agree that domain name speculation is a very big problem and I agree about the abusiveness of scam artists who grab bunches of names in the hopes of blackmailing businesses. It can be tough though to legislate or rule on this, especially when it comes to trademarks that are common words and names. There have been well known cases where businesses have gone after people who had the same last name as the business (including several websites of people whose last name is McDonald).
Of course, common sense would be able to handle these cases but common sense is usually in scarce supply once Congress and lawyers get involved.
Posted by Jim Rapoza | May 3, 2007 2:41 PM