Quote:
Originally Posted by Ankh
I wonder, can it (ever) become a sufficiently bad PR move to hurt the interest of these companies?
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First, which side do you mean, the patent holder, or the patent (so-called") infringer ? !
I reckon they take it in turns so as to even out the publicity value !
Secondly, while
sensible patent rights exist, you will always get others trying to infringe/nick/rip-off/break.
Obviously, while some form of patent process has to exist in capitalistic democracies, some applications and those granted are plainly daft/dumb/stupid.
One obvious one is the claiming of rights over a word or abbreviation - the 'r' as in Toys R Us for example - which is truly pathetic.
Another recent one is the conviction of a company that it could claim patent rights to a shape - the famous rectangle with rounded corners.
A rather frightening one, to my mind , is the genome patenting that could have unforeseen consequences.....