Law-Forums.org

[jerard]

I think the law of patents should most definitely be changed, there's way to many injuctions being thrown around. It basically lows down innovation in the consumer market.

I have an excellent idea to fix this.

There should be Exclusive patents & Non-Exclusive Patents.
Exclusive patents will only be issued if there is enough originality behind the idea and will make it so that only the holder of the patent can let others borrow based on the agreed upon terms between the parties. The exclusive patent will only last for a certain amount of set years then it will be degraded to a non-exclusive patent.
A non-exclusive patent will be issued if their is somewhat originality but not complete or if an exclusive is being degraded after its expiration.
A non-exclusive patent will be able to be borrowed as long as a set royalty percentage (based on projected revenue) is paid to the patent holder and the item being produced can not be predominately based around the patent (basically to prevent clones of items such as IPhone and such).


There's probably more that could be added to this idea an I'm open to both positive & negative criticism but I think it's a great start to pushing innovation in the consumer market.

[koltin]

a set royalty percentage? Are you nuts? You want the government negotiating your contracts? And who projects the revenue. I have to hire an accountant just to decide whether to let you use my design for free?

[siwili]

"Somewhat original"?

Originality is a binary state. It is, or it isn't. There aren't degrees of "original."

[joachim]

"Originality"? A patent cannot be legally issued TODAY if the invention is not "new and non-obvious" to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art. In other words, if anyone else had thought of it, maybe they should have published a paper to prevent others from patenting that invention.

The concept of compulsory licenses is an interesting idea. But look how well it has worked for music copyright, under 17 USC § 115. There are also countries that simply refuse to accept certain types of patent applications, such as beneficial medicines or business methods.