Comments on: Internet, consumer patents rule at auction

There was skepticism about patent auctions a few years ago, but business is booming--as demonstrated at an auction in San Francisco this week.

[Dead Soulman]

A Broken System

The patent system, at least in the U.S., is a complete broken and ridiculous system. There has to be something wrong with a system that allows a company to patent something as simple as clicking on your computer mouse. Companies left and right are patenting every day common sense behavior just to extort money from corporations somewhere down the road.

[pugster]

All IP no product

Reminds of what NTP is when they sued RIM and settled for $612 million. NTP produces nothing but has patents to everything.

[sparrowhyperion]

No wonder.

It's no wonder that our economy is going down the hole when companies are allowed to patent things like double clicking to open an application or rating MP3 files. I firmly believe that patents should not be transferable for one. They should only be given to the person or group that actually did the work to invent something. Also there needs to be some work done to make patents more specific and not nearly as broad. Instead of patenting a concept, they should be granted on the specific process or method used to implement the concept. And if the company or person who came up with it dies or goes out of business then guess what... The patent should be made null and void if the person leaves no heirs. Time for a reality check corporate America. The gravy train has needs to be derailed.

[StackYa]

I wrote the Personal Feedback Browser Patent that sold....

I read your comment, and I think you really need to rethink your position. America can not compete on manufacturing or services, we rely on innovation. I wrote the Browser Patent within 8 weeks of time. Sure it was a great payday, but I had the foresight to create new art in a very key space that will most likely be used to improve the internet. Before you criticize the Patent that I authored (Pat number 5,890,152) I would suggest you read it. To file a patent and go through the office actions is very expensive, and can be more than 30,000 dollars. It is not easy coming up with ideas, getting the money to fund them, and having the fortitude to wait years to learn if your patent will be accepted by the PTO. Maybe you need to write a patent or two on your own before you tear down patents and patent writers.

[johanOnTheGo]

No hight in innovations

There is no hight or skills in any of the innovations presented in the article. all solutions are obvious to millions of people.

In this kind of situation we will have an inflation of the patent values, or enforced patents that the general public will consider absurd.

Why doesn't C-NET comment on the this? Does those patents really bring any value to the market?

There is nothing strange that the ideas just "popped" up in the patent holders head. The reason is that similar ideas pops up in most heads once in a while. Without research, just by a common life. Nothing extraordinary in any way.

[digitalshaman]

did any of you bid?

hold-on ... the first 3 commentator here say the patents
mentioned are obvious? SO WHAT! did any of you lose a bid on
any of these patents? do you know what the claims in the
patents actually say? do you know who bought them?

This is a free market. If I get a patent on toe nail clippers and
someone buys that patent from me, how do any of you have
anything to do with that transaction?

Are you seriously suggesting that a patent holder has to keep
their patent and is not allowed to sell it or license it, for that
matter?

Grow-up. This has nothing to do with validity (novelty or non-
obviousness) and everything to do with a way for inventors to
sell, not litigate even though it is their right to exclude others
from practicing the *claims* (not the specification, the actual
language of the *claims*).

Any of the commentators own property? Should you be
restricted in selling your property? How eBay? Is it fair what
people get for *used* items?

You may rail against patents and you may rail against movies;
but, your rants are no more relevant than railing against people
who trade stocks.

Wow, what misinformation lead you to think that somehow
educated buyers, many of whom are behind the call for patent
reform (!), actually do buy patents and actually do refuse to
license the same patents when offered to do so.

[[digitalshaman]]

[Dead Soulman]

Misleading

You have missed the point and taken everything to the opposite extreme. No one has anything against patents. Sure, if you put a lot of effort and ingenuity into solving a problem by introducing new methods and technology then fine. As long as you have brought something novel to the table. But, when corporations are filing patents for clicking one button or making a list, that's plain ridiculous. There are corporations out there that would be willing to patent the fork and spoon if they could. I think Netflix patented the use of creating a list of movies in which they can be re-stacked. Oh my, now that's ingenious. Where have a seen that done? Millions of places. But, the fact that Netflix was allowed to patent it shows how insane the system has become. Same thing with eBay. No one should be allowed to patent an auction method that has been used for thousands of years. Just because someone brought it to the pc doesn't mean they can patent it and prohibit someone else from using a similar method unless they pay for it. Can you imagine if we had to pay for how we do things, there'd be no competition. "Oh, you can't hold the fork like that. Micky D's has patented that."

[johanOnTheGo]

Regarding patent on a free market

Patent is a strong regulation. It grants you a monopoly on an idea, which that state guarantees.

After the patent is granted, the idea is not free any more.

By allowing trivial ideas to be patented you create strange effects on the market. The money does not end up by the company doing the work. The money end up on random places, decided by the patent office.

It also include risks to companies that include trivial and obvious ideas to their business. Risk costs money. And this is an obstacle on the free market.

[why do i need a name?]

it's amazing what a bit of knowledge will get you...

First off, these "obvious" patents that an examiner has granted
have gone through some form of analysis during the
examination process. Something that is not insignificant if
you've ever been through one. (yes, I have granted patents)
however, the examination process is less than perfect and
patents do end up being granted that probably should not be.
[as an aside, to all of you who believe in things like government
run health care, take a look at your complaints on the patent
examination process and see the future]

Second, if and when the patent owner of some of these dubious
patents tries to enforce them, the likelyhood of success goes
down since the people who are being threatened have the
opportunity to oppose the patent on prior art, obviousness and
potentially other grounds. So, if you are showing up at an
auction buying patents that have not been tested through their
first real test, it's a crap shoot at best.

Third, if the patent survives this far, why should not the owner
of the patent have the rights to reap the benefits? If something
was so obvious, then why didn't someone else think of it first?
I've seen some pretty creative stuff in my life, much of it which
was patented and deserving of protection. Regardless if you
think it was obvious (Gee, why didn't I think of that?) soemone
invested time and talent into the idea and got the rightsto
exploit it. And this is wrong?


Is the US Patent system perfect? Far from it, but show me
another system that protects the investment of inventors?

[Dead Soulman]

Money

Why doesn't everyone patent the ideas that seem like common sense? Money. Not everyone has the Apple and MS corporate money it takes to file nonsense patents. What is it $3000-5000?

[igl00lgi]

Patents and small business

Patents kill small business and innovation as much if not more than they help them. As a manager of a business that utilizes technology, to innovate on our existing services and products, the risks are always in the back of our minds. Overly broad patents along with attornys and groups that utilize them to squeeze small businesses are doing more harm to this country than good.