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> That was OpenMarket, a software company that originally created these patents before going out of business in 2001. Whenever exec's talk about needing to fil

> That was OpenMarket, a software company that originally created these patents before going out of business in 2001. Whenever exec's talk about needing to file patents for "self defense" I always think of cases like this. I don't know anything about OpenMarket, but I'm guessing they had similar logic. Then they go belly-up and these toxic patents make their way into a trolls portfolio. No matter the company, IMHO, it's generally best to abstain from any patent fishing expeditions.

DavidAdams 14y ago
I actually worked for Open Market briefly back in 1998. Don't blame me, though. Open Market acquired my company, ShopSite, but they were already on a downward trajectory by that time, and I left to start another company before the year was out. But I can report that the company was quite proud of its shopping cart patent, and its patent portfolio in general, largely because they felt that it protected them and established them as a major player in the nascent but growing e-commerce market. There was a sense, though, even then, that the patent was pure bullshit. I never heard any contemplation of using the patent offensively, and from what I can recall there was a feeling that if that were to happen, the same thing would happen to Open Market that happened to this patent troll. That is to say, that it wouldn't stand up. Indeed, this is a good cautionary tale as to the havoc that "defensive" patents can wreak once they get into the hands of trolls.
noonespecial 14y ago
Patents are like the toxic waste of innovation. When they are created everyone is sure they will be kept contained but people move on, businesses close, and they end up getting dumped into the ecosystem where they poison everything.
tunesmith 14y ago
Dumb question - wouldn't those patents have expired by now anyway? ... Oops, sorry, I thought it was 10 years. It's 20.

DavidAdams 14y ago

I actually worked for Open Market briefly back in 1998. Don't blame me, though. Open Market acquired my company, ShopSite, but they were already on a downward trajectory by that time, and I left to start another company before the year was out. But I can report that the company was quite proud of its shopping cart patent, and its patent portfolio in general, largely because they felt that it protected them and established them as a major player in the nascent but growing e-commerce market. There was a sense, though, even then, that the patent was pure bullshit. I never heard any contemplation of using the patent offensively, and from what I can recall there was a feeling that if that were to happen, the same thing would happen to Open Market that happened to this patent troll. That is to say, that it wouldn't stand up. Indeed, this is a good cautionary tale as to the havoc that "defensive" patents can wreak once they get into the hands of trolls.

noonespecial 14y ago

Patents are like the toxic waste of innovation. When they are created everyone is sure they will be kept contained but people move on, businesses close, and they end up getting dumped into the ecosystem where they poison everything.

tunesmith 14y ago

Dumb question - wouldn't those patents have expired by now anyway? ... Oops, sorry, I thought it was 10 years. It's 20.