[Next-Generation Sequencing Book]
  • [Photo] Gary Van Domselaar • June 28, 2000
    This is a great commentary on the scandalous state of the US patent system:

    ''The principle of patenting an invention dates back to the US of the late eighteenth century, and is enshrined in the country's constitution. It was intended that patenting would protect poor but ingenious individuals from being exploited by big business by forcing a royalty out of any organisation using their patented invention commercially. In the US of the present day, this worthy idea has been turned on its head. The owner and enforcer of a patent is less likely to be an individual and more likely to be a rapacious multinational seeking to beat off competition through aggressive litigation based on tenuous claims. Hi-tech patents in particular are used by players such as IBM, AT&T, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft on a prodigious scale to fend off the tiniest threat to their intellectual property. The victims are not necessarily other technology giants, but small startup companies, freelance programmers or even enthusiastic amateurs who have, usually inadvertently, strayed onto their patch, often with lethal consequences.''

    Full story at LinuxToday.com:
    http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2000-06-27-015-06-PS-CY

    Submitted by J.W. Bizzaro

Discussion forums: VNU Net: BT and the 'Funny Old World' of Patents

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