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description of patent trolls.
author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:59:57 +0000
parents bffd7519431c
children 63a9cd3edcc0
comparison
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15:bffd7519431c 16:d5b95ca78266
65 patents can be a great force for the retardation of progress. Many 65 patents can be a great force for the retardation of progress. Many
66 silly patents have been issued, and a patent lasts for 17 years. For 66 silly patents have been issued, and a patent lasts for 17 years. For
67 almost any idea, there will be some patent that will cover your 67 almost any idea, there will be some patent that will cover your
68 idea, and then the entity that owns that patent can prevent you from 68 idea, and then the entity that owns that patent can prevent you from
69 selling products based on that idea /or even giving products based 69 selling products based on that idea /or even giving products based
70 on that idea away for free/. 70 on that idea away for free/. This can become a MAJOR problem for
71 free software, since for basically any program, some part of that
72 program will be covered by a patent, and it can become impossible to
73 legally distribute that program as free software. This is why some
74 GNU/Linux distributions don't come with an mp3 player. The mp3
75 algorighm is patented, and even if you write an open source mp3
76 player, you will have problems distribuiting that player because of
77 the mp3 patents.
71 78
72 ** Patents are treated as physical objects 79 ** Patents are treated as physical objects
73 They can be sold, seized, etc. This is because the government wants 80 They can be sold, seized, etc. This is because the government wants
74 new inventions to actually be made available to the public. The idea 81 new inventions to actually be made available to the public. The idea
75 here is that if you are an inventor and you obtain a patent on a 82 here is that if you are an inventor and you obtain a patent on a
76 cool invention, but are unable/unwilling to develop an commercial 83 cool invention, but are unable/unwilling to develop an commercial
77 product, you can sell that patent to some company and give them the 84 product, you can sell that patent to some company and give them the
78 exclusive rights to make that invention. 85 exclusive rights to make that invention.
79 86
87 Unfortunately, treating patents as physical objects has had an
88 unintended side-effect: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll][patent trolls]]. These are companies that
89 collect patents from companies that go out of business (and though
90 other means) and then sue companies for patent violations. The do
91 not produce any goods or services; their entire business model is
92 suing people. Most patent lawsuits (more than 50%) are initiated by
93 patent trolls.
94
80 ** Patents are arranged in a dependency network 95 ** Patents are arranged in a dependency network
81 96
82 Patents are usually a negative force, one that allows you to stop 97
83 other entities from using knowledge to their own advantage.
84
85 * Google has created "neutral" patents via a pledge which attaches conditions to its patents. 98 * Google has created "neutral" patents via a pledge which attaches conditions to its patents.
86 Google has a pledge at 99 Google has a pledge at
87 http://www.google.com/patents/opnpledge/pledge/ that says that for 100 http://www.google.com/patents/opnpledge/pledge/ that says that for
88 certain specified patents "we pledge not to sue any user, 101 certain specified patents "we pledge not to sue any user,
89 distributor or developer of open-source software on specified 102 distributor or developer of open-source software on specified