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How brain dead or just checked out are patent office clerks that patents like this are granted.
by admax88q 7y ago
How brain dead or just checked out are patent office clerks that patents like this are granted.
- ceejayoz 7y agoI'd imagine there's an art to making the application wordy and confusing enough to slip through.
- admax88q 7y agoIf a patent clerk is confused by the patent, then it should be rejected not granted. The whole premise of the patent process it that you disclose your invention for the good of the population and in return you are granted a temporary monopoly over your invention. I would never, ever, reference a software patent in order to implement a patented invention. They do not serve as any usable guide for the so called "invention." Therefore they are a perversion of the patent process and should not be granted.
- kranner 7y ago> If a patent clerk is confused by the patent, then it should be rejected not granted. I think GP means so confused they don't know they're confused.
- Taniwha 7y agoThe language used for describing patents is not quite English, in some ways it's a bit like a programming language, you can sort of create variables, arrays (the first X, the second X, ...), subroutine calls (even recursive calls provided they don't recurse infinitely, though that pushes the cost up) some words have different meanings ("or" for example is always exclusive or) etc etc
- Hnrobert42 7y agoMy friend was a patent clerk. She is pretty sharp. She explained that rules make it much more time-consuming to deny an application than to grant it or coach the applicant on changes they need to make in order to win a grant. Something about needing to explicitly refute each claim. Further, clerks are given quotas on how many patents they must review a week. It’s a pretty crushing load, so the system favors grants.
- ratsmack 7y agoThis just pushes the validation of a patent into the courts, and at a much higher cost than properly researching its validity from the beginning.
- gyc 7y ago> Something about needing to explicitly refute each claim Seems like a wholly reasonable rule, no? We don't want the government to arbitrary grant or deny something without applying the same rules to everyone?
- Hnrobert42 7y agoSure, but to grant a patent, you just have to say “approved.”