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A Bull Market in Tech Patents

38 points by jayzee 15y ago

gruseom 15y ago
This is interesting: "In 1895, George B. Selden, a patent lawyer and inventor, was granted a broad patent on the automobile, covering a machine with four wheels powered by a gasoline engine. Henry Ford and other early automakers fought the patent for years, and it was eventually pruned back in 1911."
- kbutler 15y ago
  From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._Selden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._Selden: He filed for a patent on May 8, 1879. His application included not only the engine but its use in a 4 wheeled car. He then filed a series of amendments to his application which stretched out the legal process resulting in a delay of 16 years before the patent US 549160 was granted on November 5, 1895.
pseudonym 15y ago
It feels like there's going to come a day when there's nothing left to innovate without getting instantly sued. Everything that could possibly be created will either wrapped in patents, contain other patents, or be "closely related" to further patents. I look forward to this particular bubble popping, although what people are going to do once they realize that everyone's sitting on everyone else's hands is beyond me.
- Harkins 15y ago
  The only thing missing in software is the "instantly" in "instantly sued". That's not going to happen because patent-holders want to wait for there be something worth shaking down first.
iwwr 15y ago
"The trouble is that in this industry so often a patent is not a clearly defined property right, but a lottery ticket of uncertain value" That's why you need lots of tickets to guarantee a win.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
jayzee 15y ago
Could the big companies use the patents to make investments in startups? So companies with an investment from Google/Microsoft would come under the protective umbrella. That could be a value add.
- rwmj 15y ago
  Why would they do that? A patent portfolio can be used much more profitably as an extortion racket against startups. Sell out to us or get sued ...
- diego_moita 15y ago
  > Could the big companies [...] make investments in startups? No, investment is too risky.
rnadna 15y ago
Would we even have a software industry if the original people patented conditional statements, loops, variable assignments, etc?
- ZeroGravitas 15y ago
  Bill Gates didn't think so in 1991: In a memo to his senior executives, Bill Gates wrote, “If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today.” Mr. Gates worried that “some large company will patent some obvious thing” and use the patent to “take as much of our profits as they want.”
Jgrubb 15y ago
Is the end result of this whole mess and congress' refusal to do anything substantial about it that countries like China cease to be copiers of technology invented elsewhere and become safe-havens for innovators to do what they do?

38 points by jayzee 15y ago

This is interesting: "In 1895, George B. Selden, a patent lawyer and inventor, was granted a broad patent on the automobile, covering a machine with four wheels powered by a gasoline engine. Henry Ford and other early automakers fought the patent for years, and it was eventually pruned back in 1911."

kbutler 15y ago
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._Selden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._Selden: He filed for a patent on May 8, 1879. His application included not only the engine but its use in a 4 wheeled car. He then filed a series of amendments to his application which stretched out the legal process resulting in a delay of 16 years before the patent US 549160 was granted on November 5, 1895.

pseudonym 15y ago

It feels like there's going to come a day when there's nothing left to innovate without getting instantly sued. Everything that could possibly be created will either wrapped in patents, contain other patents, or be "closely related" to further patents. I look forward to this particular bubble popping, although what people are going to do once they realize that everyone's sitting on everyone else's hands is beyond me.

Harkins 15y ago
The only thing missing in software is the "instantly" in "instantly sued". That's not going to happen because patent-holders want to wait for there be something worth shaking down first.

iwwr 15y ago

"The trouble is that in this industry so often a patent is not a clearly defined property right, but a lottery ticket of uncertain value" That's why you need lots of tickets to guarantee a win.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

jayzee 15y ago

Could the big companies use the patents to make investments in startups? So companies with an investment from Google/Microsoft would come under the protective umbrella. That could be a value add.

rwmj 15y ago
Why would they do that? A patent portfolio can be used much more profitably as an extortion racket against startups. Sell out to us or get sued ...
diego_moita 15y ago
> Could the big companies [...] make investments in startups? No, investment is too risky.

rnadna 15y ago

Would we even have a software industry if the original people patented conditional statements, loops, variable assignments, etc?

ZeroGravitas 15y ago
Bill Gates didn't think so in 1991: In a memo to his senior executives, Bill Gates wrote, “If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today.” Mr. Gates worried that “some large company will patent some obvious thing” and use the patent to “take as much of our profits as they want.”

Jgrubb 15y ago

Is the end result of this whole mess and congress' refusal to do anything substantial about it that countries like China cease to be copiers of technology invented elsewhere and become safe-havens for innovators to do what they do?