Indeed. "Ignoring Patents", Mark A. Lemley http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=999961 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=999961

Indeed. "Ignoring Patents", Mark A. Lemley http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=999961 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=999961 What's going on here? The answer, I think, is quite simple: both researchers and companies in component industries simply ignore patents. Virtually everyone does it. They do it at all stages of endeavor. From the perspective of an outsider to the patent system, this is a remarkable fact. And yet it may be what prevents the patent system from crushing innovation in component industries like IT. Ignoring patents, then, may be a "workaround" that allows the innovation system to function in the face of overbroad patent protection.