Quote: On Patents

> Patents aren’t evil. Only in a perfect utopian world could somebody develop an
> idea and not have to fear it being ripped off for the profit of others.

I’ve worked in a patent-heavy industry. There was no ‘innovation’ being protected, because every company had to cross-license their patents with every other company in order to remain in business. The only things the patents did were keep more efficient competitors out of the market and keep patent lawyers well paid.

–[source unknown]

. . . . .

> I’ve worked in a patent-heavy industry. There was no ‘innovation’ being protected,
> because every company had to cross-license their patents with every other company in
> order to remain in business. The only things the patents did were keep more efficient
> competitors out of the market and keep patent lawyers well paid.

Same here. And I’ve been told directly by corporate patent lawyers not to see if anything I’m inventing might infringe on someone else’s patents, because 1) something involved in what I’m making almost certainly does and 2) if you do a patent search that can show willful violation which is treble damages and screws up the “we both infringe each other so let’s create a sharing agreement based on the relative value of our portfolios” negotiations.

As you say, the main real effect is to create an artificial barrier to entry into an industry when it’s a minefield of patents.

The other real effect is to give patent trolls free reign to ruin the real innovation that these patent-holding corporations are engaging in because they’re immune to the “well you’re infringing too so let’s just strike a deal and get on with business” tactic, having no products of their own.

–Chris Burke