Patent Office chief endorses legal reform

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First Filer Wins

Exactly - there would be all sorts of negative consequences for
going with "first filer" instead of the one who actually was the
first to invent. The reason why there are negative consequences
is because the whole idea of the patent is to protect the actual
*inventor*, not the paperwork doer. Whether its easy or not isn't
really the point. Its like declaring that since domestic violence
cases are difficult to try, the first party to file suit against the
other will be the winner, because this will reduce enforcement
overhead - and then asking - "Gee, I wonder if there will be any
negative consequences of this change?"

Its a flawed method to look at optimization without reference to
what the system is for - and to try to determine whether
changes are good or bad by reference to anticipated
consequences. If there is such a thing as intellectual property
rights, then the law should protect them - not be jiggered
around like rules to dungeons and dragons until the system gets
the "right" answer somehow.

Posted by: Steven Rogers   Posted on: 04/26/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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