Re: IBM bathroom patent symbolic of US patent ills

[Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'd go for an inverse charge.  No fee to apply.  However, if anyone
proves the patent invalid, the Patent Office must pay the "prover"
$50K plus costs ;-)

In the past I've done a lot of expert witness consulting.  This year,
though, I've lost a lot of business by telling potential clients that
their patent wasn't worth the powder to blow it to hell.

Unfortunately I sure they found themselves an alternate "expert" who
would swear to anything for a buck :-(

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:03:31 -0400, "John J. Bengii"
<nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>The US Patent Office and system is a crock of shit. This is like the USA
>building a Great Wall of China around itself for technology and the USA will
>eventually be left behind in the tech world.
>
>There is only one prerequisite for a patent to be approved in the USA...did
>they apply? This has been proven in many patent infringement suits in the
>USA to date. If you contest an Intellectual Patent, once they look at it,
>they overturn it. This is typical of spending the 4-5 hours on each case.
>They don't know Jack about the product.
>
>
>"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:dq6dnQYp_Zg5anbanZ2dnUVZ_hSdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxx
>> There's an interesting article in Arstechnica about patents:
>>
>> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080327-uspto-boss-ibm-bathroom-patent
>> -symbolic-of-us-patent-ills.html   aka  http://tinyurl.com/2ewrpr
>>
>> Here are some "fair use" snippets:
>>
>> << On August 14, 2000, IBM filed a patent on "an apparatus, system, and
>> method for providing reservations for restroom use." . . .  (IBM) is
>> routinely at or near the top of the heap when it comes to number of US
>> patents obtained in a given year.   . . . Wall Street loves it when
>> companies file patents, since patent numbers can be used as an easy proxy
>> for innovation and R&D work . . . also make it easier to strike
>> cross-licensing agreements with other companies .
>>
>> These things don't "promote innovation," . . . The result has been
>> predictable; a surge in bad applications. Over the last 40 years, the
>> USPTO
>> granted 62-72 percent of all patent applications, but that number has been
>> dropping. In the first quarter of this year, only 43 percent of
>> applications
>> have been granted.
>>
>> The problem might be fixed by raising the barrier to filing an
>> application,
>> possibly by raising the price (one government official proposed a $50,000
>> fee per application), >>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sounds like a $50,000 fee would be the death knell for small business
>> innovation!
>>
>> --
>> Bobby G.
>>
>>
>>
>

                                        ...Jim Thompson
--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |

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