4 ms·

Respectfully: how the hell would that be a valid patent? Feels like patenting the idea of writing text in white on white on a Word document such that you don't

• detourdog 2y ago
  I think the magic is in the context of Unicode. Which also makes it almost twice as ridiculous from my point of view. Because it seems to be doing exactly what unicode is meant to do.
• rwmj 2y ago
  Companies acquire indefensible patents all the time. They are used in bulk to threaten smaller competitors ("we've got 500 patents in this field, better not bring your product to market"). This is one reason why patents can be terrible for competition.
  • shermantanktop 2y ago
    They are also used in bulk to defend against larger competitors using this type of threat. In a war where the ammunition is garbage, you either lose or you start hoarding garbage.
  • neilv 2y ago
    About 25 years ago, this was explained to me as "sword patents and shield patents". Sure, some can use patents as swords, to suppress legitimate competition, or to extract undue rents. But you can also use patents as shields, to protect in various ways against those swords. If I ran a BigTech (like the original warm-fuzzy Google reputation), I'd be registering any plausible patents, and have lawyers figure out how to freely license-out the ones that weren't key secret sauce, under terms that figuratively poisoned anyone doing illegitimate sword patents.
    • palata 2y ago
      > If I ran a BigTech History tells us that those who run a BigTech become crazy narcissists serving their own interests :).
      • neilv 2y ago
        For myself, that's a chance I'm willing to take. :)
• krupan 2y ago
  Patents are part of the game you have to play, like it or not. If you don't patent your inventions somebody else will and they will come after you with their lawyers. Patents are used defensively far more often than they are used offensively in these stupid "Intellectual Property" battles. Because of this, there is absolutely no point in shaming someone for patenting a thing, especially when they are apologetic about it like parent is, and most especially when they are not threatening to weaponize the patent themselves.
  • coldpie 2y ago
    No, I don't buy it. If the patents are publicly and perpetually freely licensed except for defensive-only purposes, then sure, they're not unethical. Red Hat's patent promise ( https://www.redhat.com/en/about/patent-promise https://www.redhat.com/en/about/patent-promise ) is one example. If patents were actually intended for defensive purposes only, then this would be an easy and uncontroversial thing to do. However, in practice this is vanishingly rare, and lawyers fight against it tooth & nail. This tells you that the companies do not actually file them for defensive-only purposes, unlike what you claim.
    • krupan 2y ago
      My friend, you really don't know what you are talking about, and getting all riled up like this is not the right way to learn. Freely licensing your patents doesn't protect you against patent trolls. I wrote out how patent fights work in another comment, but here it is again. Company A comes to Company B and says, "Hey! You are infringing on one of my patents!" Company B says, "oh really? Well let me look through my collection of patents and see if you are infringing on any of mine." Company A says, "oh, um, nevermind, I think I was mistaken." Company B says, "yes, that's what I thought" Now, imagine if Company B had already freely licensed all their patents. That defense wouldn't work. I agree with you that it's a crappy system, but simply standing with your arms folded and saying, "I'm not playing," isn't going to work.
      • coldpie 2y ago
        Yes, that's the reason for the "except for defensive purposes" part. Quoting from Red Hat's promise: > Our Promise also does not extend to the actions of a party (including past actions) if at any time the party or its affiliate asserts a patent in proceedings against Red Hat (or its affiliate) or any offering of Red Hat (or its affiliate) (including a cross-claim or counterclaim). Company B may still consult its portfolio and exercise it against Company A defensively, because Company A revoked its license of Company B's patents by asserting against Company B in the first place.
• dboreham 2y ago
  Almost all filed patents are invalid.
  • palata 2y ago
    But doesn't it say that the whole patent system is broken? I get the "you pay to file a patent, it's your problem if it's invalid in the end". But the side effect of that is that whether it's valid or not, it's a tool you can use to scare those who don't have the resources to go to court. It's like those completely abusive non-compete clauses in work contracts (yes in some countries that's the norm). They are completely abusive and therefore illegal. But it still hurts the employee: I have friends who have been declined a job in a company because the company did not want to take any risk. The company was like "okay, it's most likely an invalid clause, but if your previous employer sues us it will anyway cost resources we don't want to spend, so we'd rather not hire you". So an illegal, invalid clause had the effect that the company who abused it wanted. Which means it's a broken system.
• numpad0 2y ago
  fun fact: dSLR lenses are patented all the time. Claims are basically "I made it and it works". And it's considered ok.