Patent Laws Restrain Innovation
If you have ever played with your cat using a laser pointer or cut the crust off of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chances are you could owe someone who patented the idea a royalty. These are just a couple of the ridiculolus “inventions” that people have patented in the United States.
Congress is now trying to cut down on and weed out frivolous low-quality patents. Sweeping patent reform bills have passed in the House Judiciary Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee this month.
The current patent laws and litigation systems keeps companies tied up in court, and therefore keep product and technology innovations at a standstill while the details of who owns what idea are hammered out in the courtroom.
The future of the controversial new legislation is uncertain. Congress is likely to try to go forward with the patent reform in the Fall. There have been no major changes to patent law since 1999.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:12 am
Patents increase innovation by making discoveries and ideas public. That’s the idea. You get exclusive rights to your idea for a term, but only if you publically disclose the idea.
A frivolous patent is when a corporation patents a green widget and then, when the term is almost up, patents a blue widget with the same technology.