Re: [OT] Re: [Exim] Is exim in trouble?

On Sun, 31 Aug 2003, Hr. Daniel Mikkelsen wrote:

> On Sun, 31 Aug 2003, Ralf G. R. Bergs wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 10:04:09 -0400, Wakko Warner wrote:
>
> >> Lets say communigate patents (I doubt it
> >> would happen) the mail transport mechinism.
>
> > They can't. It "prior art."
>
> Of course they can. They just need to formulate it obscurely enough. Then the
> burden would shift to the litigation victims. It's not about who's right or
> wrong, it's about who has the most lawyer money.

And therein lies the problem.
I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with patents. They
allow inventors to see return on the investment they put in to solving
problems. In this way they stimulate innovation.

[Aside: the alternative to patents is to keep your ideas/inventions
secret. In this way patents actually promote the sharing of ideas - the
inventor discloses the detail of their invention in return for some legal
protection. The holder of a patent is required (I believe) to sell
licences to use that patent at a reasonable rate.]

The problem is that (in recent years, and particularly in America I
believe) patents have been granted for obvious ideas, ideas which are
already widely assumed, or ideas which have prior art. In this way,
companies which gain such patents attempt to destroy other (smaller?)
companies which did not steal the idea and have a business based on it.

The whole process seems to just feed the lawyers, and stiffle small
innocent business. What is needed (I think) is just a review of how
patents are researched and granted, and not the throwing out of patents
altogether (don't throw the baby out with the bathwater).

John

[Note: The views expressed in this email are personal. My personal views
are probably coloured by my experiences. I work for an IP company which
depends on patents for its value, without patents the company would have
no reason to spend any money on R&D. I don't believe that my company uses
patents as a way of stealing existing business - merely protecting the
inventions it creates]

--
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"Things to eat."
"Oh!" said Pooh happily. "I thought you said Provisions."