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A new instrument found unusual success

theguardian.com

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Re: A new instrument found unusual success

#11

Post by rapht »

lmpdev wrote: post #3

Absolutely awful they are patent trolling so hard with this Feels exactly like E-Ink Let us have cheap copies for the masses!

I'm not a fan of patents, but in that case, it's not like some bigco seeking to perpetually extend monopolistic rights on some product - the inventor is alive, they made what seems like a genuine contribution to the world, and that contribution is very concrete and complete - not some hollow vaguely generic not directly usable "design".

So it's actually a case where patents are a good fit: the inventor gets to decide the life of their design (and make a bit of money out of it) before anyone can use it freely.

Re: A new instrument found unusual success

#12

Post by donatzsky »

zarzavat wrote: post #5
cush wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> patent trolling They’re just not licensing the patent to other manufacturers. Patent trolling is an entirely different thing.

It’s a form of patent trolling. The point of patents is that inventors should be compensated fairly for their inventions. Not that they should be able to prevent the production of those inventions like little dictators - that does not advance society.

A patent is a time-limited monopoly on an invention, so yes, preventing others from making the same thing is exactly what a patent is for. The idea being that during this time, the inventor can either be the sole source of the widget, thus profiting from it directly, or licence it to someone else. Either case means that they get "compensated fairly".

Re: A new instrument found unusual success

#14

Post by flangola7 »

donatzsky wrote: post #12
zarzavat wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a form of patent trolling. The point of patents is that inventors should be compensated fairly for their inventions. Not that they should be able to prevent the production of those inventions like little dictators - that does not advance society.

A patent is a time-limited monopoly on an invention, so yes, preventing others from making the same thing is exactly what a patent is for. The idea being that during this time, the inventor can either be the sole source of the widget, thus profiting from it directly, or licence it to someone else. Either case means that they get "compensated fairly".

That is not what a patent is for. It may unfortunately currently be legal, but that isn't its true purpose.

Re: A new instrument found unusual success

#16

Post by cwillu »

zarzavat wrote: post #5
cush wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> patent trolling They’re just not licensing the patent to other manufacturers. Patent trolling is an entirely different thing.

It’s a form of patent trolling. The point of patents is that inventors should be compensated fairly for their inventions. Not that they should be able to prevent the production of those inventions like little dictators - that does not advance society.

The inventor is not holding on to the rights in order to collect payouts from third parties that inadvertently infringed on the invention. No, it's not a form of trolling at all.

Re: A new instrument found unusual success

#18

Post by Tor3 »

flangola7 wrote: post #14
donatzsky wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A patent is a time-limited monopoly on an invention, so yes, preventing others from making the same thing is exactly what a patent is for. The idea being that during this time, the inventor can either be the sole source of the widget, thus profiting from it directly, or licence it to someone else. Either case means that they get "compensated fairly".

That is not what a patent is for. It may unfortunately currently be legal, but that isn't its true purpose.

Please explain its true purpose then. The "exclusive rights in exchange for publishing" seems to have been the very idea behind patents for hundreds of years, all the way back to Jerusalem and Venezia according to Wikipedia, and also defined as such in the modern patent systems established later, in the US and elsewhere.

Re: A new instrument found unusual success

#19

Post by rwmj »

lmpdev wrote: post #3

Absolutely awful they are patent trolling so hard with this Feels exactly like E-Ink Let us have cheap copies for the masses!

The patents all seem to have priority dates around 2007-2009, so they should be free in the next 3-5 years:

https://patents.justia.com/inventor/timothy-e-meeks

Re: A new instrument found unusual success

#20

Post by coldtea »

taylorius wrote: post #15

I'm surprised they got the patent on this thing - seems pretty similar to a Chapman stick.

The commonality is "string instrument with many strings", which would include a lot of things (electric hammered dulcimers for example).

This, however, has important differences in design and operation, the most significant of which is the use of "an electronic muting system to dampen unfretted strings and minimize the impact of sympathetic vibrations."

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