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> Supporters of the procedure, called inter partes review, which is Latin for “between the parties,” say it helps combat patent “trolls,” or companies that obta
by seibelj 5y ago
> Supporters of the procedure, called inter partes review, which is Latin for “between the parties,” say it helps combat patent “trolls,” or companies that obtain patents not to use them but to demand royalties and sue for damages. Opponents say the procedure is skewed toward the cancellation of valid patents.
> The decision on Monday means the challenges will largely proceed as before, without changes to how the judges are appointed. The court’s narrow fix, subjecting the judges to additional supervision, fell well short of upending the current system.
This does not help patent holders. The invalidation of patents will continue. There used to be a contingent on HN who profited off this system and would defend themselves in comments, but I haven't heard from them lately. Are any patent holders on HN still making a living doing the patent shakedowns? Genuinely curious.
- Animats 5y ago> Are any patent holders on HN still making a living doing the patent shakedowns? Genuinely curious. No. I've retired from inventing. Now that we've had a weak patent system for over a decade, trade secrets have become so powerful that nobody knows how anything new works inside. With patents, you have to disclose.
- seibelj 5y agoJust wrap your invention in an API - if it truly is novel, no one will be able to replicate it.
- nybble41 5y ago> if it truly is novel, no one will be able to replicate it. Novel and non-obvious. Many novel concepts are easily replicated from first principles given sufficient incentive. Only in rare cases is the solution non-obvious. Patents are most valuable to the inventor when reverse engineering or reinvention is more-or-less inevitable; to the public, whom the patent office is supposed to represent, they serve a purpose only in cases where the invention would otherwise be likely to remain a trade secret indefinitely. And that's only if the patent clearly describes the key elements of the invention such that it could actually be recreated, and doesn't last so long that the invention is thoroughly obsolete by the time the patent expires.
- breck 5y agoNo one knows how anything works because of copyrights, the other half of intellectual slavery laws. Anyone with money (such as myself) can get access to the worlds info, everyone else is SOL.