Comment by giancarlostoro
6 years ago
Patent troll strikes again!
Maybe we should call it patent fraud and make this kinda thing illegal? Patents should be for companies actually making products to get a market edge of sorts. Not a portfolio of things you never intend to build but instead berate other companies for cash over. Its okay if they are actually still in the process of building the thing but if your company has one single employee and 0 products...
Also wondering where WebRTC stands against that patent.
[not defending patent trolls, just poking what seems to be a hole in the concept]
> Its okay if they are actually still in the process of building the thing
what should happen with a patent holder who sells off their R&D department, and thus stops "developing things"? should they be allowed to keep their patents? (to keep receiving e.g. licencing fees for the stuff they did develop; i think that's how it works?)
Yeah, the problem people seem to have is with the transferability of patents. But the alternative is some sort of personal right rather than a property right, and the huge companies would run roughshod over a system of personal rights to inventions, only enriching the FAANGS of the world at the expense of literally everyone else. Think it through before you go attacking the patent system.
As described above, the trolls play an important part of the system that does reward small players at the expense of large entities. What if you have a startup that intends on making something, but for myriad reasons you go bust, and then you sell your patent to an enforcement entity? That’s what usually happens in these cases.
They should just expire much more rapidly. 20 years is an eternity in the software world, and 10 years, or even 5 years, should be enough to develop a lead, profit a bit, and fund your next invention(s).