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The review process is the key.
No matter how you look at it, patents are a two edged sword. They really are needed to help the little guy and small companies, but like anything it can be (is) abused.

Providing funding by allowing the Patent Office to retain some of the fees collected is the place to begin. Gee, it has to use the fee payers fee to provide service, what a concept for a US Office.

How about this? Anyone can file one patent a year for free! Companies filing dozens, hundreds, (thousands?) of patent applications per year pay a gradually rising fee per patent. This rising scale fee should reach a point that makes a company think about how many they want to file and what the "quality" of the IP is. Even the richest company is going to take notice if the fee gets high enough.

Something like this ensures that there are funds to run a well staffed patent review process and discourage the "shotgun" approach to filing for a patent. Being able to support the little guy with a great idea is just icing on the cake...
Posted by: No_Ax_to_Grind   Posted on: 07/20/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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WTF Happened To The Spyware Story??!  itanalyst | 07/20/05
Yeah  Real World | 07/20/05
Yeah, and Squawkbox and Mikey Cox had ...  Judas I. | 07/20/05
The article is still there (search for antispyware)  Real World | 07/20/05
Please say it isn't so..  Patrick Jones | 07/20/05
Depends on when it was filed...  TheProtector | 07/20/05
I don't know about occasional  voska | 07/20/05
That pretty much covers it...  BitTwiddler | 07/20/05
Correcting the article  voska | 07/20/05
20, not 37  Yagotta B. Kidding | 07/20/05
That's good news then  voska | 07/20/05
Business model  Yagotta B. Kidding | 07/20/05
Ryan, what are you mumbling about?  FirstNLastN | 07/20/05
That was over 200 years ago  voska | 07/20/05
Oh I am sorry 200 years ago.  FirstNLastN | 07/20/05
Here is some trivia  osreinstall | 07/20/05
Thanx  voska | 07/20/05
Court became a trading floor and not a justice place  FirstNLastN | 07/20/05
Mysterious.  Anton Philidor | 07/20/05
Shhh... the illuminati.  TheProtector | 07/20/05
What about the little guys?  Chad_z | 07/20/05
And yet...  rapson | 07/20/05
Excellent Point Carl  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/20/05
Re: Excellent Point Carl  none none | 07/21/05
Buying Microsoft Propaganda  rjriley | 01/31/06
What is made in the USA.  Anton Philidor | 07/20/05
Less every year  Yagotta B. Kidding | 07/20/05
I agree with this position  xshakes | 07/21/05
I think in order for something to be eligible for patent  Michael Kelly | 07/20/05
All patents must die [nt]  Omch'Ar | 07/20/05
The review process is the key.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/20/05
Idea has much merit.  Zinoron | 07/21/05
Software patents  voska | 07/21/05
Hmmm, so old open source patents should be tossed?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/21/05
Yep  rapson | 07/21/05
Again, it's a trust issue.  Michael Kelly | 07/21/05
Yes  rapson | 07/21/05
Yes!  Patrick Jones | 07/21/05
So in three years I can take anything I want from Linux.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/21/05
That's great, but now you're breaking a license!  CobraA1 | 07/21/05
Problems w/logic  CobraA1 | 07/21/05
Yes, Inventors Can Make Big Biz Cry  rjriley | 01/31/06
Predatory Companies  rjriley | 08/04/05

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