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EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System

eff.org

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Re: EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System

#2
The solution to the patent system is to abolish it. The whole thing. Seek compensation for the act of coming up with innovative ideas instead of trying to apply artificial state granted monopolies to them after the fact. It would be so much healthier to have money pumped into the R&D of common utility goods for the sake of the innovation than to continue to perpetuate patent warfare while trying to attach a flawed profit motive to intellectualism.

Re: EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System

#4
post #2

The solution to the patent system is to abolish it. The whole thing. Seek compensation for the act of coming up with innovative ideas instead of trying to apply artificial state granted monopolies to them after the fact. It would be so much healthier to have money pumped into the R&D of common utility goods for the sake of the innovation than to continue to perpetuate patent warfare while trying to attach a flawed pr…

The usual retort to that is "so you don't want to cure cancer then". The pharmaceutical industry very strongly depends on patents, and would easily be able to convince government through money and "cancer" not to abolish it.

The practical thing then is to come up with a solution for pharma, and then abolish the patent system.

Re: EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System

#5
post #2

The solution to the patent system is to abolish it. The whole thing. Seek compensation for the act of coming up with innovative ideas instead of trying to apply artificial state granted monopolies to them after the fact. It would be so much healthier to have money pumped into the R&D of common utility goods for the sake of the innovation than to continue to perpetuate patent warfare while trying to attach a flawed pr…

The usual retort to that is "so you don't want to cure cancer then". The pharmaceutical industry very strongly depends on patents, and would easily be able to convince government through money and "cancer" not to abolish it. The practical thing then is to come up with a solution for pharma, and then abolish the patent system.

Killing software patents would be a good start IMO.

Re: EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System

#6
I hope that after the Alice vs CLS Supreme Court ruling EFF & Co reintroduce the abolishing of "business method" patents, which Microsoft and IBM fought so hard to take out of the previous bill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/20...

Re: EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System

#7

How do other countries patent systems compare with the US'? Can inspiration for changes be drawn from them or are they just as bad/worse? I ask because I only ever hear of trolling in the US system.

I know of one important distinction between the US and India with regards to medicine patents. In India you can only patent the means of making a medicine, not the medicine itself. So if you can come up with a substantially different way of making the same thing you have equal rights to it.

Re: EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System

#10

Man - this guy might have the best title I've seen in a while: Daniel Nazer Staff Attorney and the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents Electronic Frontier Foundation daniel@eff.org

Is that usage correct? Shouldn't he be described as the holder of the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents, rather than being described as the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents?

Also, every time I read about the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents I have a mysterious urge to watch "Zoolander".

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