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| About Brad Feld |
| Brad Feld is currently a Managing Director at Mobius Venture Capital and has been with the firm since 1996. Prior to Mobius, Brad founded Feld Technologies, which was sold to AmeriData Technologies in 1993, where he became Chief Technology Officer. Brad currently serves on the boards of a number of private companies, including Atreus, Comergent, ePartners, FeedBurner, Gold Systems, Judy's Book, Klocwork, NewsGator, Quova, Rally Software, and StillSecure. In addition, he is on the board of The National Center for Women & Information Technology, The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, and The Colorado Conservation Trust. Brad has previously been a member of the board of directors of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization and founded the Boston and Colorado chapters. He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
Recent Article:
Let's Make Software Patents "Defensive Only"
- For more on Brad Feld visit www.feld.com
In my quest to abolish software patents, I've been pondering "short term approaches" since I doubt the Supreme Court is going to wave a magic wand and make my fantasies come true anytime soon.
I've been hearing about something lately that bothers me a lot. More and more companies are paying engineers a bonus to file patents. Not "get patents" - simply generate patent applications. The intended consequence is an obvious one - companies get to file more patents. The unintended consequence is a particularly nasty one - lots of shitty patents get filed and the PTO has to wade through that much more garbage.
A friend of mine - who recently was "paid to file a patent" said he considered requesting that - if granted - the patent only be used defensively. I asked him why. He responded that he felt conflicted and thinks a lot of his peers feel the same way. He didn't think the patent was particularly valuable, useful, or valid. However, he was reluctant to turn down the bonus that he was getting for simply filing the patent. He didn't view it as a good use of his time (or of his company's time or money), but he realized that the patent system is motivating his company to file as many patents as they can. He has little expectation that the patent will be granted, but he was happy to get paid the bonus.
I asked him what would make him feel better. He surprised me when he said "My company should agree to only use the patent defensively if it is granted." I asked him if he thought this was a unique perspective and he said no - he thinks many experienced software engineers are skeptical of software patents. While they are skeptical, they understand the battle going on right now and realize the value of ever increasingly large number of patents for defensive purposes.
Wouldn't it be interesting if there was a grass roots movement of experienced software engineers around software patents for defensive purposes only.
Lets Make Software Patents Defensive Only - To learn more about this author, visit Brad Feld's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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