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[isthisthingon]

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Patent_an_Invention?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

[nutballs]

unfortunately its not that easy.

the big boys can patent stuff successfully. But us little guys cannot. We will NEVER be able to cover all the bases and close all the holes in the patent to make it an actual protection of an idea. I speak from experience, my father holds about 20 patents. About half are were at the company he worked for, those mostly stood up. The other half were on his own, even with investors and partners, and even a fledgling patent lawyer. They all got breached. Score one for big biz...

[isthisthingon]

the big boys can patent stuff successfully. But us little guys cannot. We will NEVER be able to cover all the bases and close all the holes in the patent to make it an actual protection of an idea.

Yes exactly!!  I thought you were of the mindset that "there's nothing wrong with our patent system."  It's a game for the big players disguised as protection for defenseless inventors.  In fairness you don't have to be a "big player."  All you need is enough money to make tons of money.  For weeks at a time a company I was working for paid many patent lawyers the rate of $1,000 per hour to wind up getting huge settlements on the backside for "patent infringement."  It's a racket.

[nutballs]

no no. I think the patent, trademark, and copyright systems are necessary. BUT i also think they are tremendously broken.

They are old, and worked great when they were created. But now, like our constitution, its time for an update/overhaul...

[perkiset]

  in a big way. And I think tort reform regarding the issues is important as well. It's become just a huge chess game for corps to strategically phuque with each other along this line, and our court system gets clogged and lawyers make mad cash because of it ... while little folks like your dad take the feather duster up their ass.

[isthisthingon]

>no no. I think the patent, trademark, and copyright systems are necessary. BUT i also think they are tremendously broken.

  as well.  I must sound like I believe that the very intentions behind having these policies are not good to start with, or that regardless of intentions that these systems are simply bad for society.  No kidding, I think these concepts and systems are potentially very good for society. 

I do, however, differ in the opinion that they were initially created as purely "protection" mechanisms for those who owned these temporary, mini-monopolies.  With enough research on the subject I think everyone will find another important reason for their existence which is arguably more important than protection of the few who own them.

These systems were created to improve the quality and quantity of inventions, art, written works for the sake of the people in general.  In other words, by financially incentivizing the people of a nation to invent things, the rest of the people in that nation reap the rewards of more and better inventions.  If the sole purpose was to incentivize inventors to invent things so they could make money - end of story - then these systems would have been banned before they ever got off the ground.

Furthermore, it was never intended that a corporation enjoy these benefits.  This is one reason why big money interests have fought so hard to give corporations the same rights as people, and yet providing the people who control them anonymity and a shield against the penalties faced by individuals who break the law.

Copyright clause of the US Constitution - "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

[perkiset]

Furthermore, it was never intended that a corporation enjoy these benefits.  This is one reason why big money interests have fought so hard to give corporations the same rights as people, and yet providing the people who control them anonymity and a shield against the penalties faced by individuals who break the law.

Corporate personhood will be the undoing of the United States. And it's well along the way.

[isthisthingon]

Corporate personhood will be the undoing of the United States. And it's well along the way.

Totally.  In many ways America has already become a corporatocracy.

[kurdt]

All this makes me want to start patent some stuff

Good news is that more this game is exposed and made accessible for average people, the more pressure it will create to change the system. My theory is that if you make every "patented" so that even the big guys are constantly getting sued over and over again, they will lobby for a change.

But yet again, it's America so the change will probably be something like "only companies with 100 billion annual will be able to patent".

[nop_90]

All this makes me want to start patent some stuff

Good news is that more this game is exposed and made accessible for average people, the more pressure it will create to change the system. My theory is that if you make every "patented" so that even the big guys are constantly getting sued over and over again, they will lobby for a change.

But yet again, it's America so the change will probably be something like "only companies with 100 billion annual will be able to patent"

 

[isthisthingon]

>But yet again, it's America so the change will probably be something like "only companies with 100 billion annual will be able to patent"

 

Precisely the wrong direction to go and yes, you're probably right.  I think as perks mentioned tort reform would be a great thing here.

[perkiset]

But dontcha just wonder what kind of catharsis it will take for that to come to pass? I don't see any movement in that direction at all yet.

Perhaps, if Apple actually manages to disrupt the flow of Android phones for a little bit the outrage will be enough to cause a re-evaluation of the whole thing.

And yet again, Apple will be on the forefront. iPod, iPhone, iPad, iLitigate. An interesting product trajectory.

[kurdt]

And yet again, Apple will be on the forefront. iPod, iPhone, iPad, iLitigate. An interesting product trajectory.

I'm not sure that it's a choice they made, I think it comes as part of doing business in that size in that market. Whole computer industry is plagued with patent problems and if you choose to challenge the big boys and after winning stay at the top, you'll have to use all weapons available. One of those weapons is simply patents. When you start thinking about the whole patent idea, it's great for inventions like wheel or process how to melt metal so it doesn't get air in it. But when we have such a rapidfire research thanks to computers people are patenting all kind of "small shit" that they happened to innovate. And because in electronics you might need piece X to get your innovation Y done, you are fucked if patent for X is in the hands of your competitor.

I think only solution how to fix the damn thing is to actually make some sort of rule that the patent needs to be used in a product that will be in the market in the next 2 years that patent is filed. If not used, then it's just holding other people back and it should expire. Now few million inventors cry that what about our jobs? Well how about you fucking stop dreaming and actually get shit done. Ideas are commodity and if you failed to do anything with your idea, you shouldn't be able to get money from other people who had the same idea and acted on it.