Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamlet53
That is the patent office being too willing to grant patent protection to large corporations for very broad all encompassing ideas. Apple and Microsoft seem to be leaders in this. Smaller companies seldom have the wherewithal to mount a challenge to this and so must pay up.
|
Do you honestly think granting more patents to small businesses can help ? Read below:
Quote:
There’s one other important place that software patents come from, and it’s an important one. Startup companies get advised by venture capital firms and the lawyers that profit from them to gather a few software patents, “so you some valuable assets” and “so you can protect yourself”. (...)
Since most startups exist to be acquired, and since most startups actually go bust before that happens, their software patents then get bought – at fire-sale prices – by patent trolls, perhaps assisted by the same people who recommend the patents be created.
|
http://webmink.com/2011/03/18/parallel-filing/
Shaggy:
Patents and copyright are the two sides of the same coin: monopoly. Patent is a monopoly to sell a mechanical invention or a piece of software. Copyright is a monopoly to sell literary works or software.
(Note how software has it funny - it's affected by both)