Skip the navigation
Opinion

A Patent Strain on Innovation

By Dan Gillmor
October 4, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Some things are patently ridiculous. One is the U.S. patent system, an institution in desperate need of reform.
The reason for patents is to encourage innovation. We give inventors exclusive rights to their creations for a limited period, after which the inventions enter the public domain.
In the real world, patents are also about politics, mismanagement and slippery behavior. The results may be damaging to our economic and cultural health. Patents are supposed to be issued for actual inventions -- for new methods and machines that are, crucially, not obvious. Too many patents are being awarded for "inventions" that aren't new or are blatantly obvious.
The technology business is rife with bad patents. A couple of years ago, BT Group claimed to own a patent on hyperlinking, a concept that long predated the company's application. This bizarre notion was, thankfully, shot down in a U.S. courtroom, but not before SBC Communications spent a lot of money defending its right to use the technology.
Microsoft lost a trial in which a small Illinois company, Eolas Technologies, claimed to own fundamental technology for browser plug-ins. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) is re-examining that case, which many in the Web community believe is an example of a patent that should never have been issued in the first place.
Then there are the "business method" patents -- essentially, online translations of analog activities. The most infamous is Amazon.com's "one-click" shopping patent, but there are lots of other egregious examples.
There's plenty of blame to go around on this. But the chief culprits are the PTO, which by nearly every credible account doesn't sufficiently analyze the applications it gets, and Congress, which allows this to persist.
To be fair to the PTO, it is laboring under handicaps. For example, Congress doesn't let the agency use all the money it generates in fees to improve the patent process. But the PTO's attitude has been compared, accurately, to that of a polluter. The agency, which considers patent applicants -- not the public -- to be its main constituency, hands out patents willy-nilly and lets the courts sort out the mess that results.
IT has a serious stake in this. The intellectual property dust-up over Linux seems likely to be the tip of a nasty iceberg, with patent holders (especially Microsoft, I suspect) potentially using threats about alleged infringement to scare people away from open-source software. And companies developing their products are increasingly filing for patents on everything that moves, mostly for defensive reasons. Wouldn't you



Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Gov't Legislation/Regulation White Papers
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
Streamline Compliance and Increase ROI
Streamline, simplify, and automate compliance related activities; especially those that impact multiple business units. This white paper from NetIQ, outlines solutions that will...
X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps
This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into...
All Gov't Legislation/Regulation White Papers
Gov't Legislation/Regulation Webcasts
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn...
Virtualize Business-Critical Applications with Confidence
Virtualizing business-critical applications has become a key focus for organizations as they move along their virtualization journey. With the launch of VMware vSphere®...
All Gov't Legislation/Regulation Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs