This week the “This American Life” radio show on MPR aired the following story. It’s good to see that this is getting some wider coverage.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack
Transcript: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/default/files/TAL441_transcript.pdf
And http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/07/26/138576167/when-patents-attack
This American Life published an audio exposé on the problems of software patents and the current abuses of the patent system; it talks about how the patent system is failing business and preventing innovation; including:
- Patent system abusers
- Patent “trolls” & sham companies
- The role of Intellectual Ventures
- East Texas
- Bad patents
- Issued on obvious concepts
- Overly broad
- Written for attorneys, not engineers
- Negative impact on innovation
There is a very revealing quote by Peter Detkin of Intellectual Ventures, “Litigation is just licensing by other means”.
Also cited (of interest) in the report:
- David Martin of M-CAM, http://www.m-cam.com/, speaking on patent searches and the rampant similarity of thousands of patents.
