Congress Moves To Rewrite Patent Laws

Bean

Pretty interesting..

http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=145110

Bean.


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Teacher: What is the difference between ignorance and apathy ?
Student: I don't know and I don't care
Teacher: Correct !
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metron9

It's about time. the whole thing has become a big joke, exercising cats using a laser pointer indeed. Does that mean anyone that makes a laser pointer has to go to court to fight a lawsuit because someone uses their laser to exercise their cat? What about dogs?

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Think Inside the box first and if that doesn't work..
Re-arrange what's inside the box then...
Think outside the BOX!

Franklin

Metron9 said...
·What about dogs?

That's my idea! If you plan to excercise your dog with a laser just send me a small licensing fee and I'll send you a certificate of complience.

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- Stephen

metron9

Here is an example of a patent that someone has and there is no product available. A simple adapter with an Edison standard light bulb base with a voltage regulator to drop the voltage to some DC level. I have searched for hours to find anyone that sells such a device but nothing yet. I did find one adaptor but it was just the base to pin for low voltage edison base bulbs.

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6863573-description.html

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Think Inside the box first and if that doesn't work..
Re-arrange what's inside the box then...
Think outside the BOX!

Dennis Ferron

That's the problem with the patent system in a nutshell - these patents are applied for by parties no intention of actually making a new technology. They're being obtained by companies to protect their existing interests by using them as a club to beat down newcomers, and they're being used by patent trolls as a form of blackmail to extort money from people/companies that are legitimately producing something.

Edit: My calculus teacher has something called "the giggle test" - which is that you check your work for errors by seeing if the number you got for an answer passes "the giggle test." I don't think you can come up with a legal way to state what is and is not an absurd concept, but when these patents don't even pass "the giggle test," there is definitely something wrong.

Post Edited (Dennis Ferron) : 8/2/2007 12:06:06 AM GMT

John Bond

I get the feeling patents branding and copyrights may be getting less relevant to all but the major corporations. In South Africa, we get plenty of exact cribs like exact copies of motors for Toyota, Duitz, Perkins form China. We also find people (including Americans) stealing our South African Intellectual Property, particularly mining, armaments and High-Tech. This happens, even when patented in the US as well as internationally.

An example of copyright theft - Disney used a well known South African song in Lion King and, outside South Africa, will sue anyone who uses it pursuing the case to the US Supreme Court. Who, outside Big Corporate America has the bucks to defend an action against Disney…

Another example is a beverage we drink called Rooibos Tea. We've done so since the late 1600s but this name is now a registered brand in the US so the many growers of this fine product cannot sell it to you guys. Could you imagine someone registering Maple Syrup so no other Canadian supplier could sell their products in the US.

Have you ever wondered why some wierd left wing protesters complain of Corporate Imperialism.

Innovation, to stay ahead, seems to be the answer. Watt and Boille (and their descendants) made the same steam engine from 1795 up until the 1860's or over 60 years. Today, some industries have a product life of less than four months. Remember that the little guy is much more flexible so he has an advantage.

But here in Darkest Africa, things are different.

John Bond

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