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Interesting how the playing field changes when you reach a critical mass. Reforming patent law could be part of the solution against this type of thing, but th

Interesting how the playing field changes when you reach a critical mass. Reforming patent law could be part of the solution against this type of thing, but the bigger problem may actually just be that IBM is run by assholes.

webreac 13y ago
We do not have the full story. Maybe 36M$ is very cheap for these 900 patents and IBM was very kind. We will probably not know before many years.
- mildtrepidation 13y ago
  It's true that we don't have much in the way of details, but it's also very hard to imagine "very kind" fitting the bill here in any way, shape, or form. "We have a portfolio of patents that we are now going to use to sue you, unless you'd like to buy them" just does not qualify as "kind" to me regardless of the rest of the interaction. They had (and everyone has) the option to simply not file this kind of suit (or even go hog wild in the patent field). But they consistently choose to. I understand that it'd be fairly irresponsible for a large company to ignore patents, or to ignore actual, real infringement that affects its bottom line, but it is and has been blown so far out of proportion that no one in IBM's position gets a pass.
  - duaneb 13y ago
    > I understand that it'd be fairly irresponsible for a large company to ignore patents, or to ignore actual, real infringement that affects its bottom line Bingo. This is a corporate organization and your needs, or really anyone's needs but the company's, are not in its best interest to consider. From the perspective of profits, playing the patent ransom game is the best decision, especially for entrenched business giants like IBM.
diegomcfly 13y ago
Ding. Ding Ding. We have a winner. Creating / getting a patent at IBM is comical. Sort of like a game. All you have to do is document something, pass it to their patent lawyers ... and they fill it with so much verbose lawyer language and fluff that any normal person can't read and interpret it. Then it gets submitted and ... voila ... patent pending (and quite typically a couple years later, patented). (Source: Me, a former employee of IBM (Indian Business Machines)).
- mrschwabe 13y ago
  Really, THAT is the procedure they use to 'invent' new patents? Wow, just wow. Appreciate you sharing this. Curious, did you submit any yourself? Did they provide incentives for you or staff to come up with these 'documents' ? Do they have a monthly quota for # of new patents per week/month? In addition to staff submissions, did they have special division specifically their to conjure up new patents fulltime? Feel free to indulge, I find it fascinating to hear it from someone who has been in the belly of the beast.
  - iends 13y ago
    It's not quite like that, at least in the USA. For example, my good friend had to submit and modify his idea 3 times because the lawyers were not quite happy with the novelty of it. Documenting your idea is a bit more involved then just slapping a few paragraphs down and sending it off to the legal team. As an IBMer, I've refused to participate in patents because they are a net negative for society. IBM does however reward you for filing patents. In the USA, it's like $1000 for your first file and then royalties from the patent in some cases (I've heard 1%, but this is just a rumor) if it is granted. Beyond filing your first patent there are different tiers for the number filed & accepted that provide extra monetary reward. As far as I am aware, there are no divisions at IBM that just sit around and come up with new patents. Novel ideas come as a product of working on other things, so a team doing nothing but patents would probably quickly run out of inspiration. There are however monthly meetings with "Master Inventors" who have been through the process several times and are willing to help mentor you through the process. As an employee, management regularly has asked (2-3x a year) if anything we've done we thought was patentable.

webreac 13y ago

We do not have the full story. Maybe 36M$ is very cheap for these 900 patents and IBM was very kind. We will probably not know before many years.

mildtrepidation 13y ago
It's true that we don't have much in the way of details, but it's also very hard to imagine "very kind" fitting the bill here in any way, shape, or form. "We have a portfolio of patents that we are now going to use to sue you, unless you'd like to buy them" just does not qualify as "kind" to me regardless of the rest of the interaction. They had (and everyone has) the option to simply not file this kind of suit (or even go hog wild in the patent field). But they consistently choose to. I understand that it'd be fairly irresponsible for a large company to ignore patents, or to ignore actual, real infringement that affects its bottom line, but it is and has been blown so far out of proportion that no one in IBM's position gets a pass.
- duaneb 13y ago
  > I understand that it'd be fairly irresponsible for a large company to ignore patents, or to ignore actual, real infringement that affects its bottom line Bingo. This is a corporate organization and your needs, or really anyone's needs but the company's, are not in its best interest to consider. From the perspective of profits, playing the patent ransom game is the best decision, especially for entrenched business giants like IBM.

diegomcfly 13y ago

Ding. Ding Ding. We have a winner. Creating / getting a patent at IBM is comical. Sort of like a game. All you have to do is document something, pass it to their patent lawyers ... and they fill it with so much verbose lawyer language and fluff that any normal person can't read and interpret it. Then it gets submitted and ... voila ... patent pending (and quite typically a couple years later, patented). (Source: Me, a former employee of IBM (Indian Business Machines)).

mrschwabe 13y ago
Really, THAT is the procedure they use to 'invent' new patents? Wow, just wow. Appreciate you sharing this. Curious, did you submit any yourself? Did they provide incentives for you or staff to come up with these 'documents' ? Do they have a monthly quota for # of new patents per week/month? In addition to staff submissions, did they have special division specifically their to conjure up new patents fulltime? Feel free to indulge, I find it fascinating to hear it from someone who has been in the belly of the beast.
- iends 13y ago
  It's not quite like that, at least in the USA. For example, my good friend had to submit and modify his idea 3 times because the lawyers were not quite happy with the novelty of it. Documenting your idea is a bit more involved then just slapping a few paragraphs down and sending it off to the legal team. As an IBMer, I've refused to participate in patents because they are a net negative for society. IBM does however reward you for filing patents. In the USA, it's like $1000 for your first file and then royalties from the patent in some cases (I've heard 1%, but this is just a rumor) if it is granted. Beyond filing your first patent there are different tiers for the number filed & accepted that provide extra monetary reward. As far as I am aware, there are no divisions at IBM that just sit around and come up with new patents. Novel ideas come as a product of working on other things, so a team doing nothing but patents would probably quickly run out of inspiration. There are however monthly meetings with "Master Inventors" who have been through the process several times and are willing to help mentor you through the process. As an employee, management regularly has asked (2-3x a year) if anything we've done we thought was patentable.