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IBM's is a sad example of how the patent process is abused (although I guess I should blame the game, not the players). If said patents were filed and shelved
by GFischer 10y ago
IBM's is a sad example of how the patent process is abused (although I guess I should blame the game, not the players).
If said patents were filed and shelved for some time, they should hold no validity in court afterwards.
Edit: that said, it is interesting how they came up with said patentable ideas :) , and it does fit with what Asimov said about the intersection of components, and daring being encouraged (at IBM, take note!).
- jacobolus 10y ago> If said patents were filed and shelved for some time, they should hold no validity in court afterwards. That’s how it works right now. The “some time” is 20 years after the filing date.
- GFischer 10y agoYes, you're right :) . I was thinking of a drastically shorter timeframe in case of non-enforced patents, and maybe to be determined by a judge or jury. Say a few years at most, or maybe varying according to the field (doesn't make the same sense for tech advancements to be accorded the same length of protection than medical ones, say.). Still, much wiser heads have written lots about this :)
- ianai 10y agoI don't think the law can differentiate between medical/technical/etc patents to that fine a degree.