Defend Innovation

In 1787, the framers of the U.S. Constitution decided to include protection for what has come to be known as “intellectual property rights.” Philosophers have debated the idea of intellectual property for years, but whether you agree with them or not, they are the law of the land.

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. Article I, Section 8

Since this was written, things have gone completely mental. It has become very common to see non-practicing entities, or what many call patent trolls, exploiting the system. They sit on a bunch of patents in order to sue those who actually innovate someday.

I remember a post by Mark Cuban years ago ( I’ve looked for it before and couldn’t find it ) where he set out three ideas for the taking. Then he said there were two or three tracks readers could take. The last was the patent troll route. Sit on the idea until someone else invests time and money making it happen, and then sue them. I thought it was brilliantly sarcastic.

All jokes aside, we need to stop the abuse.

To make matters worse, many patents are filed for things that are not patent worthy. The classic example is the steering wheel. One should not be able to patent a steering wheel because anyone would have thought of it. Yet companies do it routinely now.

And it is not just trolls – even large corporations that really do innovate participate in the insanity.

This week a judge finally had enough sense to say it like it is.

The other day I stumbled across a petition to end the madness. The petition calls for a set of standards designed to prevent much of the abuse. I have my doubts about a couple of the petitions, but overall it looks like a step in the right direction. Check it out and add your signature at defendinnovation.org/