3 ms·

so.. patent laws are so broken that patent trolls are everywhere suing startups to get $ from them. google now has a business that can directly benefit from s

by dis-sys 10y ago

so.. patent laws are so broken that patent trolls are everywhere suing startups to get $ from them. google now has a business that can directly benefit from such increasing number of patent trolls. sounds not very inspiring to me. who is always on the losing side? average small companies. who is screwing the economy & innovation and show no sign of change? governments who refuse to actually reform such a 100+ years old broken system.

DaiPlusPlus 10y ago
This service is not for defending against non-practicing entities - but to defend against patent suits from large enterprises that the startups might be competing against (e.g. Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung, etc) - not that Microsoft et al. engage in that kind of warfare against small-fry, but it's plausible.
- pnw_hazor 10y ago
  IBM, Microsoft, et al. certainly throw their patent portfolio weight at small companies when it suits them. For example, they may bring out their patents to force a lower valuation when acquiring companies.
Tanegashima 10y ago
The problem, is not the law, the problem is the bureau. They keep attributing patents that are obvious and meaningless.
- icantdrive55 10y ago
  How about this: 1. Every US citizen, or entity(corporation) is allowed one free patent. (Most would never fill out the paperwork) 2. After the first patent, the fee goes to whatever it is now? Last I looked it was around $260 to $2500 if you do it all yourself. 3. People (corporations) are allowed twenty patents at the normal price. 4. That 21st patent goes up to 1 million. Then the next patent is based on minimum of 1 million, plus an exponential fee determined by company Market Value. I think, even Microsoft, would look at a 500 million patent fee closely? Actually, I wish all governmental fees/fines were based on income.

3 ms·

so.. patent laws are so broken that patent trolls are everywhere suing startups to get $ from them. google now has a business that can directly benefit from s

by dis-sys 10y ago

DaiPlusPlus 10y ago
This service is not for defending against non-practicing entities - but to defend against patent suits from large enterprises that the startups might be competing against (e.g. Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung, etc) - not that Microsoft et al. engage in that kind of warfare against small-fry, but it's plausible.
- pnw_hazor 10y ago
  IBM, Microsoft, et al. certainly throw their patent portfolio weight at small companies when it suits them. For example, they may bring out their patents to force a lower valuation when acquiring companies.
Tanegashima 10y ago
The problem, is not the law, the problem is the bureau. They keep attributing patents that are obvious and meaningless.
- icantdrive55 10y ago
  How about this: 1. Every US citizen, or entity(corporation) is allowed one free patent. (Most would never fill out the paperwork) 2. After the first patent, the fee goes to whatever it is now? Last I looked it was around $260 to $2500 if you do it all yourself. 3. People (corporations) are allowed twenty patents at the normal price. 4. That 21st patent goes up to 1 million. Then the next patent is based on minimum of 1 million, plus an exponential fee determined by company Market Value. I think, even Microsoft, would look at a 500 million patent fee closely? Actually, I wish all governmental fees/fines were based on income.