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Ideally this could be done under a system where the company gives away the right to use the patent offensively unless the inventors agree. That way hopefully th

by robryan 14y ago

Ideally this could be done under a system where the company gives away the right to use the patent offensively unless the inventors agree. That way hopefully the patents won't end up being used in different ways if the company is bought out later.

CamperBob2 14y ago
I've thought about that, but the problem is, such an encumbrance would zero out the value of the patent. Your employer wants you to file patents not because they make their products more valuable, but because they make the company more valuable. A possible compromise might be joint ownership of patents. Maybe that's what you had in mind? Under an arrangement like that, the engineer wouldn't have the right to stop his employer or a future owner of the patent from suing people, but he would have the ability to license the patent rights himself. I like this idea because it leaves the value judgment to me. If I don't agree that the cause is just, I can stop any offensive legal action simply by offering to license the IP to the defendant for $1. If I work for Google and they want to get into some kind of galactic pissing contest with Apple, they can knock themselves out for all I care. But if my patent ends up the hands of Uniloc, Acacia, or that Myhrvold asshole, I can shut them down. Co-ownership of patents would still devalue the IP substantially, but that might be ameliorated if I agree in advance not to license the rights to anyone who has initiated any other legal action against the patent holder. That would help maintain the patent's defensive value. It could still be used in a FRAND licensing pool, for instance.
- robryan 14y ago
  It would devalue them, but this doesn't matter if you are truly only registering for defensive purposes. If you are then selling your portfolio 10 years down the track for massive money, they weren't really defensive were they.

by robryan 14y ago

CamperBob2 14y ago

I've thought about that, but the problem is, such an encumbrance would zero out the value of the patent. Your employer wants you to file patents not because they make their products more valuable, but because they make the company more valuable. A possible compromise might be joint ownership of patents. Maybe that's what you had in mind? Under an arrangement like that, the engineer wouldn't have the right to stop his employer or a future owner of the patent from suing people, but he would have the ability to license the patent rights himself. I like this idea because it leaves the value judgment to me. If I don't agree that the cause is just, I can stop any offensive legal action simply by offering to license the IP to the defendant for $1. If I work for Google and they want to get into some kind of galactic pissing contest with Apple, they can knock themselves out for all I care. But if my patent ends up the hands of Uniloc, Acacia, or that Myhrvold asshole, I can shut them down. Co-ownership of patents would still devalue the IP substantially, but that might be ameliorated if I agree in advance not to license the rights to anyone who has initiated any other legal action against the patent holder. That would help maintain the patent's defensive value. It could still be used in a FRAND licensing pool, for instance.

robryan 14y ago
It would devalue them, but this doesn't matter if you are truly only registering for defensive purposes. If you are then selling your portfolio 10 years down the track for massive money, they weren't really defensive were they.