any hope for US innovation going forward? ..
That the Conversation is Beginning to Change
Paul Morinville
Founder and former President, US Inventor, Inc.
The destruction of the patent system has been on the march for over a decade. Thinking back, the early sorties filled the air with wildly false stories of patent trolls feasting on mom and pops and eating our nation’s innovation engine. The stories concluded that we must send patent trolls to a “special place in hell reserved just for them.” Back then, most Washington lawmakers and staff believed in fairy tales. Unfortunately, radical and extreme changes by all three branches of government were made to virtually every aspect of obtaining, maintaining and defending patent rights. These fundamental changes had the effect of sending imaginary patent trolls to that “special place in hell,” but unfortunately, because the government does not understand even basic economics, they sent the rest of us there too. We are left with a destroyed patent system and a gutted national innovation engine—and all of this because of a cartoon. Startups and their emerging technologies are fleeing overseas to real-world places like China and Europe.
While I am not thankful that we are in this position, I am thankful that the last year has softened hardliners in Congress, who are beginning to understand the damage that they brought on all of us and themselves. The conversation has changed. I am thankful that those using the pejorative epithet “patent troll” are now understood to be the patent pirates and thieves that they actually are. I am thankful that the destructive and undefinable abstract idea under Section 101 has shown its gnarly face even though big tech big bucks shelled out to Senators on the Judiciary Committee caused its fix to stall. Next year will reveal that even more innovation has fled the United States to other countries, and these Senators will not be able to trade their dignity and honor for campaign cash and they will pass the right fix. I am thankful that the Federal Circuit found PTAB “judges” to be unconstitutionally appointed, and I am now hopeful many will be rightly fired.
That the USPTO is Still Open, and Europe is Picking Up the Slack
Gene Quinn
Founder and CEO, IPWatchdog, Inc.
As I’ve contemplated what to write for several weeks now, the first thought that keeps coming to mind is simply this: I’m at least thankful that the doors to the USPTO haven’t been shuttered– yet. The utter disarray of the U.S. patent system is mystifying. Renewed Federal Circuit attempts to find everything of commercial value to either be abstract or a natural law, or simply unpatentable because it is useful as a medical diagnostic, are confounding. The inability of Congress to do anything to stop the patent system from becoming irrelevant is maddening. The Supreme Court—well, they are responsible for much of the problem and have eschewed opportunities to fix the patent system at every turn. So, I guess what I’m really thankful for is Director Andrei Iancu’s leadership during these difficult, trying and historic times. At least the USPTO remains open for business on the front end.
I’m also thankful that the European Patent Office is increasingly stepping into the void left by the United States. Just recently, I had the opportunity to speak at a conference for high growth SMEs in Dublin, Ireland. It was impossible not to notice the role reversal. It is like looking at a mirror. As the U.S. patent system wanes, the European patent system gains. Europe understands the importance of patents to SMEs and has recently unveiled a report explaining just how and why SMEs use patents—for funding, to establish partnerships, to drive revenues. So, I am thankful that startups, universities and SMEs have a place to go to grow the technologies of the future in an environment that appreciates their vital role to the innovation ecosystem, even if that isn’t America.
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https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2019/11/28/thanksgiving-ip-community-thankful/id=116474/