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Thread: Da fuq, Apple
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12-05-12, 12:28 PM #11
Re: Da fuq, Apple
Well, in most cases the patent system is in place to protect those who do the actual innovation and create new things, cause R&D ain't cheap. The second person into a market can almost always produce something cheaper than what the first person did, because most of the R&D was already done and person 1 is still trying to recoup the money from their R&D investment. For instance, suppose I invented a new type of lamp (hypothetical, because this wouldn't really apply in the patent world, but it's a simple example). I would've had to spend X on R&D, and my choices are to either treat X as a loss (which is unfeasible for many companies because X is large) or to raise the final price of the lamp up a little bit by considering a portion of X to be part of my production cost. A lot of people would just say to eat the loss, you'll make it back up in the end if the product is good enough....the problem is that may never happen. Using regular profits to recoup the money spent on R&D is a slooooooow process. Now, if someone else came along a short time later and started selling the same type of lamp that I'd created at prices that undercut mine, made possible by their not having big R&D costs to recoup, that kinda discourages innovation because someone else is just gonna copy your designs and you're gonna lose every penny you put into R&D.
There does need to be some form of patent reform though, because acquiring patents where you had no investment previously is basically exploiting that system. Patents are basically designed to let an innovating company get their R&D expenditures back before other companies start selling the same product for less.
~MorningfrostAlundil liked this post
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12-05-12, 01:34 PM #12Re: Da fuq, Apple
The real root of the problem is that the patent office is flooded with overly broad submissions and does not have the manpower to properly vet that all submissions are specific enough and that there is no prior art. They end up leaving it up to the courts where lawyers end up deciding these things.
An easy reform for software at least would be to make software subject to copyright instead of patent. Another reform would be to require that patent holders actually bring the technology to market or license it to someone who does within a reasonable time frame. That would help cut down patent trolls.
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12-05-12, 03:18 PM #13
Re: Da fuq, Apple
Thats because the patent office doesn't do your research for you. Its up to you to know if someone else has the item already. If your wrong then the other person files suit against you. So the real problem is people patent things without so much as looking to see if their idea is original.
We could probably cut it down a bit by forcing people to have a working model before being able to apply. As it is right now all you need is an idea and a drawing of it. Worthless but it does make the government a lot of money.
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