Busted, or not busted, our patent system
One of the most revered, trusted and enduring of America’s industrial and technological advantages is our patent system. Except that, it isn’t anymore. Patents are included in the US Constitution, proof positive that the Foundering Fathers considered them critically important to the future of the country. That was then, this is now and you’ll understand when you go to www.wired.com/2015/01/fixing-broken-patent-system. It was written by Jay Walker,the founder of Priceline in the late 1990s.
Here is an insightful chronology of how much the patent system benefited the country up until the last several decades. The system is now too cumbersome and costly such that 95% (Walker’s data) of inventions are not available to small and medium size businesses. Only the mega corporations have the human, financial and technological resources to fully utilize the system. A study is cited stating that liberating the patent system from litigation-based costs and risks would create $200B/yr in increased economic output.
Although Hall & Hinkelman (2015) in the Patent Primer 3.0 boast of Intellectual Property, mainly patents, as one of “the great equalizers of our lifetime”, not all companies who use patents are equally able to capitalize on them.
References
Hall, E. B. & Hinkelman, R. M. (2015). Perpetual Innovation™: Patent primer 3.0e: Patents, the great equalizer of our time! An overview of intellectual property with patenting cost estimates for inventors and entrepreneurs. [Amazon Kindle eBook]. ASIN: B010ISU7ZG