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Technology: Patent Reform Imminent?
The US Patent system has been under fire for some time. Patent laws have not been updated since 1952 in the US, and recently there have been problems. Especially over the last 15 years there have been numerous cases of frivolous patent infringement cases. Another common criticism of the patent office is that patents have been granted for operations or ideas which often seem obvious or trivial.
Part of the problem has been that the US Patent and Trademark office has been understaffed and often lacks access to the industry experts that could be consulted for reviewing patent applications. A second part of the problem is that there is often little guidance for judges and juries as how best to determine the method for calculating reasonable patent royalties and awards should a patent be infringed on.
Many of the largest technology companies are backing a reform bill that is now in Congress — it severely scales back the penalties of patent infringement. Those companies include Google, Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Many smaller companies, on the other hand, complain that this reform could hurt them. Often entire companies are built around one or two key patents. Laxer enforcement of patent infringement could significantly hurt those companies. Larger companies often have large portfolios of patents which they cross-license with other large companies that have equally sizable patent troves.
It’s clear that patent reform is needed, but weakening the teeth of enforcement doesn’t seem like the right approach. The biggest of the problems is that patents have been granted for things which shouldn’t have been patentable. True patent reform will beef up the staff at the Patent office to make sure that patents for innovation are appropriately granted, but frivolous patents are denied.
