Forbes (October 15)
“Amid chatter about the ‘Japanification’ of China’s economy, it’s wise to keep an eye on how Beijing’s troubles might scuttle Tokyo’s recovery, too…. Japan is uniquely vulnerable to China’s downshift amid myriad global headwinds and other dynamics—including controversies over patents.”
Tags: Beijing, China’s economy, Controversies, Downshift, Headwinds, Japanification, Patents, Recovery, Tokyo, Troubles, Vulnerable
New York Times (May 6)
“In recent years, the number of patent-infringement lawsuits has increased sharply, by 25 percent just in 2013.” This explosion of frivolous lawsuits has “made a mockery of the protections the government grants to inventors.” Fortunately, Congress looks poised to pass legislation that could reduce some of the worst abuses.
Tags: Abuses, Congress, Frivolous, Government, Infringement, Inventors, Lawsuits, Legislation, Patents
The New York Times (December 1, 2013)
Theoretically “patents provide an incentive for inventors to generate new products and services by giving them a temporary monopoly on their creations.” Over little more than a decade, however, patent applications have more than tripled to 576,000 in 2012 and “the Patent and Trademark Office appears to have granted many that are overly broad or vague.” The result has been frivolous lawsuits filed by patent trolls. Currently proposed legislation in Congress will help reduce the frivolous lawsuits, but it doesn’t “directly address the underlying problem of vague and overbroad patents.”
Tags: Applications, Congress, Frivolous, Inventors, Lawsuits, Legislation, Overbroad, Patent and Trademark Office, Patent trolls, Patents, Vague
Financial Times (April 10)
“Over a fifth of the world’s patent applications in 2011 came from Japan, eight times as many as from the UK. It is far better at turning basic research into commercial applications, with clear national priorities set by government and strong links between businesses and universities.” Japan has challenges, but knows how to face them. “The UK (and other countries) can learn a lot” from Japan.
“Over a fifth of the world’s patent applications in 2011 came from Japan, eight times as many as from the UK. It is far better at turning basic research into commercial applications, with clear national priorities set by government and strong links between businesses and universities.” Japan has challenges, but knows how to face them. “The UK (and other countries) can learn a lot” from Japan.
Tags: Businesses, Government, Japan, Patents, Research, UK
The Economist (May 5)
The U.S. Patent Office issued 244,358 patents in 2010. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there is a back log of over 700,000 applications. “On average, hopeful inventors wait for two years until their applications are even considered. Ten months more may go by before they learn whether they have been successful.” As Congress has further cut spending, the backlog is expected to worsen. The Economist believes the wait stymies innovation. “While they wait for a decision, the American economy is losing out.”
The U.S. Patent Office issued 244,358 patents in 2010. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there is a back log of over 700,000 applications. “On average, hopeful inventors wait for two years until their applications are even considered. Ten months more may go by before they learn whether they have been successful.” As Congress has further cut spending, the backlog is expected to worsen. The Economist believes the wait stymies innovation. “While they wait for a decision, the American economy is losing out.”
Tags: Congress, Economy, Innovation, Patents, U.S.
