[mythtv-users] Tivo suing everyone in sight over DVR patents

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Thu Aug 27 22:33:18 UTC 2009


On Thursday 27 August 2009 16:14:57 David Brodbeck wrote:
> Ryan Allen wrote:
> > And the guy that patented the slurpee straw?  All he did was cut a slit
> > in the end of a straw and retired very rich.
> >
> > Transparency in engineering is not a disqualification of a good business
> > model.
>
> Also, many good ideas in engineering and design seem obvious once
> they've been done.
>
>
> This is actually a really tough nut to crack -- how do you encourage
> genuine innovation, while weeding out patents that aren't legitimately
> new ideas?  The patent office is completely overwhelmed and has largely
> thrown up its hands.  You have the classic problem that plagues every
> government regulatory agency -- people who are truly experts in the
> field will be working somewhere where they can make serious money, not
> making a relative pittance as patent clerks.

A senior patent examiner (not a "clerk") can actually make a fairly decent 
living, along with the other perks of civil service.

I was recently at a meeting where one of the speakers was a patent examiner. I 
asked him what qualifications they looked for in a potential examiner. I 
guess he thought I was considering such a career, he did everything he could 
to discourage me from entering it.

During the lunch break this fellow and a couple of patent attorneys got into a 
lengthy argument about software patents, it was interesting to listen in.

This was a conference put on by Senator Enzi, the opportunity to ask questions 
of the patent attorneys for free was nice (though it did cost me the fuel for 
a 400-mile round trip and a hotel for the night).

Not surprisingly, the examiner thought software patents were idiotic, but the 
attorneys thought they were a great idea.

-- 
Brian Wood
beww at beww.org


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