Originally published August 15 2005
Patent office badly needs reform
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The U.S. Patent Office in the past few years has been unable to even look at half of the applications they receive, which has led Congress to call for reform.
Reliance on the horse was a sign of the "primitive state of the country and of the patent office at the time, where the quickest way to deliver messages around the city of Washington was by a boy on a pony," according to "The Patent Office Pony," by Kenneth W. Dobyns.
Lawyers, companies, inventors and politicians all agree that the nation's patent system is in desperate need of reform.
For example, proposals to weaken the threat of court injunctions are designed to help defendants and reduce the number of lawsuits--but critics say this so-called reform could actually increase the amount of litigation.
The issue is coming to a head in Washington, where committees in the House and Senate are planning hearings on a host of proposals to change the nation's patent law and how the Patent and Trademark Office operates.
The ideas being proposed run a wide gamut, from forcing patent holders to license their inventions to others, to the elimination of software patents altogether.
"Whether it's movies, music, software or telecommunications devices, the intellectual-property industries drive our economy," Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), vice chairman of the House Republican High-Tech Working Group, said in a statement.
Under current law, most victorious plaintiffs win injunctions that prevent companies from manufacturing products that infringe on the patents in question.
"Nobody volunteers to take a patent license," said Kent Richardson, vice president of intellectual property at Rambus, which designs chips.
Targeting the court system Reformers are also setting their sights on the appellate court process, which sends all patent appeals to the federal circuit.
These changes were supposed to ensure that judges on these cases had experience; instead, by narrowing the number of appeals judges, some say, the changes introduced elements of personality into the system.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml