Is The Patent System Broken?

Posted by Michael Stal on Nov 11, 2011

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In a recent interview with The San Francisco Chronicle the patent counsel of Google, Tim Porter, claims the patent system itself is broken. Patent offices worldwide have been increasingly granting protection to “innovations” that are rather vague, fuzzy, or even not innovative at all. As a consequence the IT Industry is currently facing an endless series of patent trials which some large corporates seem to mainly leverage as weapons for attacking competitors.

The patent system was originally introduced in the era of industrialization to protect innovative ideas of individual inventors or small companies. What worked very well for decades, is now abused by IT vendors to prevent innovation and competition. One prominent example is the continuous attempt of companies such as HTC, Samsung, Microsoft or Apple to demand injunctions against selling smart mobile devices. That is the reason why large companies are forced to increase their patent portfolio. Inventors and small companies cannot afford to act likewise.

Isn’t this just a legal issue? In large software projects it turns out to be a real challenge. On one hand, system engineers, software architects and developers need to make sure that their software does not violate and intellectual property rights, especially when using open source software. On the other hand, they must create large patent portfolios themselves for business protection.

Why is it then valuable to patent software? Porter answers the question as follows,

I think the question is whether the current system makes sense. During the period I talked about [in the 1980s and 1990s], software was protected by copyright and other legal protections. There are certainly arguments those are more appropriate.

But I think what many people can agree on is the current system is broken and there are a large number of software patents out there fueling litigation that resulted from a 10- or 15-year period when the issuance of software patents was too lax.

According to his viewpoint, the legal system shouldn’t allow to patent the obvious. he proposes to introduce standards for patents and provide clear boundaries. And,

at the end of the day, damages, injunctions and remedies have to be proportional to the value of the invention. Very often, what is fueling patent-troll lawsuits is the ability to go into court and seek astronomical damages based on what any rational person would consider a minor component of the product.

Google’s strategy in this context is to enlarge its patent portfolio by buying other portfolios in order to protect Google and its partners.

Unfortunately, Porter does not mention how to support smaller companies or single inventors in this context. Eventually, those are the ones for whom patents were invented.

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   Patent number: 5443036 Method of exercising a cat with a laser pointer

   by zqu dlyba

   Well duh! Of course the patent system is broken if somebody could successfully patent a method for exercising a cat with a laser pointer.
   
   This guy did:
   www.google.com/patents?vid=5443036

   Reply

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   The patent system is just fine... See why I believe this

   by Dave Korpi

   I think the patent system is just fine. In fact, with the first to invent coming soon it is even better for the little guy..
   Why? Because the little guy can file a provisional patent application for only $125 and protect his or her idea and sell it to the"Big guys" like Apple or Google..
   The way to do it is shown in the second video on this blog:
   filepatentapplications.com/blog
   
   Once folks finds this works then you can take a look at the Provisional Patent Video Course here:
   
   provisionalpatentvideo.com/
   
   Take a look to see if it works..
   
   Thanks,
   
   Dave

   Reply

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   Strategy?

   by Cameron Purdy

   Google’s strategy in this context is to enlarge its patent portfolio by buying other portfolios in order to protect Google and its partners.

   
   
   Looking at Android and the iPhone, it should be obvious what their strategy is, and apparently it requires both lawyers and press interviews ..
   
   Peace,
   
   Cameron.

   Reply

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   Re: Strategy?

   by Serge Bureau

   Please tell me what innovation Google ever brought (besides search)
   They steal OS, and Java, what else ?

   Reply

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   Re: The patent system is just fine... See why I believe this

   by James Watson

   I think the patent system is just fine. In fact, with the first to invent coming soon it is even better for the little guy..
   Why? Because the little guy can file a provisional patent application for only $125 and protect his or her idea and sell it to the"Big guys" like Apple or Google..

   
   
   Nonsense. Owning a patent has very little value to the 'little guy'. You have to be able to protect the patent and companies like Apple, Google, Oracle, and Microsoft can bury you in legal documents. You need millions to pursue a patent infringement suit against just one large company.
   
   On the flip-side, a large company with a patent can again easily pursue legal action against the 'small guy' and derail them. Generally speaking, I don't think large software companies are looking to hammer small companies with lawsuits. Of course, if you become too successful or your idea is very lucrative, you might find yourself in a bit of a legal mess. And if your idea is really revolutionary, your patent might be struck-down simply because it would impede economic progress.
   
   Effectively, software patents are little more than ammunition in a protracted corporate artillery battle.

   Reply