






Samsung TV




Source: The Korea Times

Comments     Threshold


Good for legal departments.
By jammo on 5/27/2013 12:16:06 PM , Rating: 4
Yay! Let's spend more money on our legal depts by suing one another, than what we spend on R&D! Heaven forbid developing products, and IP, to generate a profit.

RE: Good for legal departments.
By Solandri on 5/27/2013 3:46:15 PM , Rating: 1
Ultimately, it's the legal system which is to blame. If suing for patent infringement is more lucrative than spending money on R&D, then that's where companies will spend money.

That's what everyone's been saying about patents (and copyrights) in a roundabout fashion. But the judges, lawyers, and lawmakers have a stick up their collective *sses thinking that adherence to the letter of the law is more important than making sure those laws are written and interpreted in a manner which a net positive for the economy.

The fundamental premise behind IP is that the benefit to the IP holder is greater than the harm to everyone else. That way if (theoretically) everyone were an IP holder, it would be a net gain for society. But the instant the harm to others becomes greater than the benefit to the IP holder, the rationale for IP ceases to exist. If suing over IP is more lucrative than investing in R&D, that's a pretty good sign we've crossed that threshold.

RE: Good for legal departments.
By ven1ger on 5/31/2013 5:03:04 PM , Rating: 2
The USPTO needs to share blame in this. For some reason, it started granting what is basically software patents. Software patents should never have been allowed, but its now snowballing where even the legal system can't deal with it nor can it do it consistently as every judge has a different opinion on it.

The USPTO left it up to the courts to determine the validity of the patents it granted.

