this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
380 points (99.5% liked)
Technology
59287 readers
6520 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Patents probably just need to go for most things. At least patents shouldn't be 20 years for everything.
"You came up with an idea that would have taken a computer 30 milliseconds to produce, here's a 20 year patent."
Patents should change to protect R&D investments, not ideas. If you spend a billion dollar getting a new drug through trials, that's a R&D cost and you get a patent. If you invent a neat webpage layout or something, and a teenager could replicate what you've done in a few hours, no patent, or perhaps a 5 year patent.
Unfortunately the US moved from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-patent a few years back. Terrible idea.
And for the record, the US was one of the last western countries to switch
Prior art is still a thing though, and invalidates a patent. I think first to file just means you can't keep an idea secret and then "surprise!, we already invented that be we've been keeping it a secret, but trust us, we were first". If you publish an idea, it establishes prior art and, in theory, prevents future patents of that idea.
Unfortunately I've seen plenty of patents misused exactly as you described. Patent trolls are a thing
That's a horrible idea as it would essentially would prevent anyone but mega corporations from obtaining a patent. Right now for around 20k anyone can get a patent on their original idea but if you change it to R&D investment protection some company could just out spend you on R&D (whether or not that even makes it a better product mind you) and claim the patent. This would kill many small businesses industries especially the hobbyist accessories business.
Also you can't patent a web page layout, that would be filed under the copywrite system as intellectual property.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-Click#Patent
One click purchasing is little more than a web page layout and it was patented. The patent was reexamined and partially upheld too.
Also, I just think, morally speaking, that just because you had an idea, the opportunity of having the same idea shouldn't be denied to everyone else.
John Carmack said it well:
"The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying."
One click purchasing is a website element not a layout. If you read the patent there's a bit more going on then just here's a button that purchases items. The patent describes how the front end and backend works in order to make it work and that's what separates it from being 'just a layout' and makes it patentable.