A lot of software patents were really just telling your competitor how to do something and actually a bad idea. Trade secrets are often better in those cases.
Speaking of software, I think we've scrapped software patents here in NZ. Might need to double check that.
- yup, looks like we have. Doesn't seem to be bothering Xero...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=11118087
Last edited by vijil; 11-24-2015 at 06:44 PM.
https://www.instagram.com/vijil/
I draw guns and spaceships and bunnies
A lot of software patents were really just telling your competitor how to do something and actually a bad idea. Trade secrets are often better in those cases.
Yup, which I think is why the dev community over here were behind the change.
IP strategy is fun.
And since this is an OT thread I might as well mention that I'm busy (re)learning solidworks. Also fun, though the extent to which I'm having to unlearn everything I knew about 3D modelling from Maya is disturbing.
https://www.instagram.com/vijil/
I draw guns and spaceships and bunnies
I found solidworks incredibly frustrating to learn after every other cad system I had used before. A lot of operations and selections seem backwards. You get used to it and eventually come to appreciate the system whilst still occasionally being frustrated.
Yeah, it's the whole "first choose what to do, THEN choose what to do it to" thing that's throwing me.
Ah well, if Alex got it so can I dammit
Last edited by vijil; 11-24-2015 at 11:03 PM.
https://www.instagram.com/vijil/
I draw guns and spaceships and bunnies
you literally stated that Xprize type foundations and charity would be the reason why folks would invest in R&D and replace the current patent system's motivation for doing so.
and anyone willing to buy a company that has proprietary processes, without IP protection on those processes, or right to practice, is a fool. sorry. arguably, such a company should not exist, as anyone can shut down anyone if they fail to have right to practice. and if they don't have patent protection on there proprietary processes, then anyone can replicate the process when/if it becomes valuable.
it sounds like your value is in product life cycle and path to customer. not fundamental technology development.
Last edited by cockerpunk; 11-25-2015 at 10:35 AM.
social conservatism: the mortal fear that someone, somewhere, might be having fun.
And for something a bit different and... lighter.
I've started doing Youtube vids of my gaming adventures - currently starting with the Blizzard Overwatch Beta, but hopefully expanding in the coming months.
Take a watch and subscribe for more fun!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6E...xFdw3GFKqcHHVA
Possibly. I thought we were just talking about technology companies and IP. I missed the part about big time R&D budgets because of the comments about IP and the little guy.
One thing you are missing though is the rights a patent gives you.
A patent does not give you a right to practice.
This was drummed into me when at one stage in my career I started working on becoming a patent agent. I stopped as I simply was taking on too much at one time, but I got over half way through the course.
A patent gives you one right, and one right only. That is to stop someone else from practicing your innovation. It doesn't even give you the right to practice it.
Usually to stop someone you have to have serious money.
Case in point is how NPS took over Odyssey with my first force feed patent. Odyssey had quite a few patents, but I was first. Just because they had patents didn't give them any rights to practice what was in them because it was based on the major concept covered in mine.
It rendered all of their patents valueless to them and anyone else looking to buy them other than NPS, even though the patents covered what they were making, they couldn't make it because of my patent. The patents only had value after NPS bought out the company, which was a situation they pretty much had no choice about.
The value in their company at the time was not the IP, but the tooling and orders they had. They got a decent chunk for that.
Also, a company's goal is not to be bought up by some bigger company, it is to grow bigger & better. No one goes in hoping that they will be bought out in the near future. That is a path to failure, IMO.