Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 72 posts

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#61

Post by bduerst »

rbanffy wrote: post #60
bduerst wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's completely relevant. Ensuring distribution of costs for new technology is one of the primary reasons for having patents in the first place.

Are you proposing patents should be granted for those who spend tons of money, regardless of how innovative or useful the results of their inventive process are?

I'm proposing that patents encourage the production and disclosure of new technology, and that the inventor has a temporary monopoly with which to re-cooperate the costs of doing so.

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#62

Post by nitrogen »

makomk wrote: post #55
nitrogen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is an intermittent windshield wiper really worthy of a 20-year monopoly?

Ford thought it worthwhile enough to steal the design from him when he came to show it to them and fight him in court for years for the right to use it without paying, so it might well be "worthy of a 20-year monopoly".

I imagine "worthwhile enough to steal the design" and "worthy of 20-year monopoly" are mostly independent variables. There are plenty of ideas worth "stealing" that aren't worth a patent.

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#63

Post by debacle »

jlgreco wrote: post #34
debacle wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the risk to a company whose only asset is the patent which, should they fail to win their case, is probably useless anyway?

Could it be possible to pierce the corporate veil in these cases and go after the people actually running them? Seems like the correct response, if these people are using corporations as throw-away legal weapons.

As a business owner, I like my corporate veil case law just as it is, thank you.

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#64

Post by rbanffy »

bduerst wrote: post #61
rbanffy wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you proposing patents should be granted for those who spend tons of money, regardless of how innovative or useful the results of their inventive process are?

I'm proposing that patents encourage the production and disclosure of new technology, and that the inventor has a temporary monopoly with which to re-cooperate the costs of doing so.

Still, how much you spend inventing something is not related to how useful (or obvious) your invention is. If you spent US$ 10 million developing something obvious, you still don't deserve a patent on it.

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#65

Post by debacle »

rayiner wrote: post #48
jlarocco wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, imagine losing your house, car and savings because somebody finds a bug in your product and sues you...

Presumably if you're designing products that could cause that much damage if they malfunction, you can buy insurance against any resulting problems. Limited liability is a public subsidy for big business--it reduces the cost of inherently risky business activity by shifting those costs to the injured public rather than to the business owners. It's really arguable whether such incentives are needed and whether liabili…

Most LLCs have assets and thus require liability insurance anyway.

The tech sector is a small slice of the business space. Lets phrase it another way - you get a bad shipment of chocolate from a supplier, and your cookies send a handful of kids into allergic shock from the peanuts tainting the chocolate. One of them dies. You're likely going to be sued, and your liability insurance is likely a drop in the bucket (enough to cover your business assets). Do you still deserve to lose your house?

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#66

Post by bduerst »

rbanffy wrote: post #64
bduerst wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm proposing that patents encourage the production and disclosure of new technology, and that the inventor has a temporary monopoly with which to re-cooperate the costs of doing so.

Still, how much you spend inventing something is not related to how useful (or obvious) your invention is. If you spent US$ 10 million developing something obvious, you still don't deserve a patent on it.

>If you spent US$ 10 million developing something obvious, you still don't deserve a patent on it.

That's up to the USPTO to decide, not you.

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#67

Post by rbanffy »

bduerst wrote: post #66
rbanffy wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, how much you spend inventing something is not related to how useful (or obvious) your invention is. If you spent US$ 10 million developing something obvious, you still don't deserve a patent on it.

>If you spent US$ 10 million developing something obvious , you still don't deserve a patent on it. That's up to the USPTO to decide, not you.

Exactly. And how much money you spent developing your invention should not be taken into consideration. If you do it, you reward inefficiency.

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#68

Post by [deleted] »

rbanffy wrote: post #67
bduerst wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you spent US$ 10 million developing something obvious , you still don't deserve a patent on it. That's up to the USPTO to decide, not you.

Exactly. And how much money you spent developing your invention should not be taken into consideration. If you do it, you reward inefficiency.

[deleted]

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#69

Post by bduerst »

rbanffy wrote: post #67
bduerst wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you spent US$ 10 million developing something obvious , you still don't deserve a patent on it. That's up to the USPTO to decide, not you.

Exactly. And how much money you spent developing your invention should not be taken into consideration. If you do it, you reward inefficiency.

Resource Efficiency is not a criteria for the USPTO, that's your own personal, subjective opinion.

Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”

#70

Post by nitrogen »

bduerst wrote: post #69
rbanffy wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. And how much money you spent developing your invention should not be taken into consideration. If you do it, you reward inefficiency.

Resource Efficiency is not a criteria for the USPTO, that's your own personal, subjective opinion.

rbanffy wasn't suggesting otherwise. It was your comments that seemed to suggest that inefficient, expensive research should be more worthy of patents by virtue of being expensive.
Post reply on HN