The Board of Patent Inquisitions

Link (pdf of proposed new rules)

Caption: If the Examiner is giving you the run around, you can come to us for relief.

HP exec (the "invent" co.) & Houston Paper not above Downright Lying to Texas Football Fans

According to an opinion written by HP exec Ted Clark:

The last major updating of our patent system was in 1952. Back then, no one had heard of The Beatles and a long-distance telephone call was considered "high-tech." Yet this same system [1952 Patent Act] is expected to perform in today's faster paced, technology-based economy.

The Fourth Estate (newspaper editorials) seems to have been taken over by a Corporate Ministry of Doublespeak Truth right out of 1984. So it is up to the Blogosphere to holler a good ole fashion "foul" when the paper downright lies to its underinformed readers. Democracy can't work if the people are repeatedly lied to.

According to one historical site {IP Mall}, there have been amendments to the 1952 Act every couple of years:

1954
1958
1959
1961
1962
1964
1965
1971
1972
1975
1980
1982
1983
1984 --Hatch Waxman add ons
1986
1988
1990-1994 (every year)
--Of these, the last two were for NAFTA and GATT (20 year term)
1995
1996
1998
1999-- The American Inventor's "Protection" Act, a major set of changes

For more misleading statements to the public, one can go here and see what Mr. Smith Goes to Washington says:

Arguably, it [Patent Reform 2007] represents the biggest change since the 1952 act was written. The subcommittee has undertaken such an initiative because the changes are necessary to bolster the U.S. economy and improve the quality of living for all Americans. The bill will eliminate legal gamesmanship in the current system that rewards lawsuit abuses over creativity. It will enhance the quality of patents and increase public confidence in their integrity. This will help individuals and companies obtain money for research, commercialize their inventions, expand their businesses, create new jobs and offer the American public a dazzling array of products and services that continue to make our country the envy of the world. All businesses, small and large, can benefit. All industries directly or indirectly affected by patents, including finance, high tech and pharmaceuticals, can also profit.

Reform Rationale Calls for Eradication of Human Race

A few bad apples are reason enough to remove the whole barrel according to certain pest control experts who wish to "reform" the 200 year old American patent system.

AP reporter Erica Werner warns her readers of the patent plague that confronts our nation. In a recent fair and blanched report she opens with the following line of plagiarized rhetoric:

Crustless peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, a way to move sideways on a swing, a technique for exercising cats using a laser pointer - these are among the inventions patented in the United States over the years. Now Congress is trying to cut down on poor-quality or downright ridiculous patents, and at the same time adapt the patent system to a high-tech era in which computers and other electronic devices may contain thousands of patentable parts.

With millions of patents having been served out by the underfunded and overwhelmed US Patent Office, the enviro-friendly daft reporter has "discovered" all on her unbiased own the dastardly few patents that warrant eradication and total makeover of the whole system.

Of course, by that logic, it would make sense to exterminate the whole of the human race. After all, news reporters such as Erica are constantly uncovering examples of unsavory human beings. Does it not make sense to once and for all eliminate those pests as well? They pollute the air and poison the children. They commit crimes and lie, cheat and engage in acts of moral depravity.

And besides, if we leave alive a few independent inventors; why they might multiply and spread their contagious ideas around the whole world. Who wants free thinkers in an age of corporate mind control and global domination?

Today's Hipocracy

A copyrighted book entitled "Innovation Without Patents: Harnessing the Creative Spirit in a Diverse World" by Uma Suthersanen, et al. Amazon asking price: $100. The book suggests that IP laws are unnecessary for fostering creativity and innovation. However, the copyright page at the front of the book suggests that you will have your creative juices zapped by legal process if you creatively lift these authors' work product and palm it off as your own. (Another example of: What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine; or in short, hipocracy --rule by the hip and cool.)

Hat tip to IPBiz for raising the issue of economic enlightenment regarding innovation and its malcontents.