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Wikipedia for Patents
Written by: Brad FeldArticle Overview: John Funk, an entrepreneur (I’m an investor in John’s newest company – Evergreen IP) and friend has a innovative proposal up concerning changing the rules on the current patent system. I’ve been on both sides of the patent aisle with John – we like to joke that early on in our relationship John’s company sued one of my companies (and then my company sued John’s company back) for patent infringement (the companies settled several years later for a cross license and $1 – much to the delight of the lawyers who got all the bucks.) Fortunately we got past all that crap and have developed a nice friendship.
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Wikipedia for Patents
John Funk, an entrepreneur (I’m an investor in John’s newest company – Evergreen IP) and friend has a innovative proposal up concerning changing the rules on the current patent system. I’ve been on both sides of the patent aisle with John – we like to joke that early on in our relationship John’s company sued one of my companies (and then my company sued John’s company back) for patent infringement (the companies settled several years later for a cross license and $1 – much to the delight of the lawyers who got all the bucks.) Fortunately we got past all that crap and have developed a nice friendship.
John’s proposal is straightforward – let’s change the rules so patent applications get published after six months and – before the patent is granted - there is an open debate using a Wikipedia (or Digg-like) system that helps surface all the prior art and blow up stupid patents for obviousness and prior art. This would be a real debate – online and out in the open – that the patentee would be able to engage in.
While I’m sure all the patent lawyers in the world would groan at this, it’s certainly better for them than my proposal, which is to simply do away with software patents altogether. We certainly have the technology to implement this – say – in 24 hours. I wonder who will try to patent that?
Read this article in Brad's Blog.
Article Tags: aisle, blow up, crap, cross license, digg, entrepreneur, friendship, funk, investor, open debate, patent applications, patent infringement, patent lawyers, patent system, prior art, proposal, six months, software patents, stupid patents, wikipedia
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About the Author: Brad Feld RSS for Brad's articles - Visit Brad's website 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. Click here to visit Brad's website A Message To Graduating MBAs The End of My Paid Subscription Content Experiment Eliminate Ranges From Your Negotiating Vocabulary Great Example of Blogging Changes to Your Product Four Minutes in the Morning |
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