Jim Moore’s blog: Innovation, Strategy, Public Policy

Students, inventors, innovators of all kinds learn by studying how previous innovations were done.  What the patent system does is assure that this information–how things work–is “open sourced” for all to learn from. In order to get a patent you must disclose how your idea works “so that someone skilled in [...]

I’ve noted recently that the anti-patent ideologues are now claiming that patents prevent sharing of knowledge and information.   Of course what they are missing is that patents can make it possible to share information and still keep ownership.  Thus a strong, effective patent system encourages disclosure and makes society open to ideas.
AIPPI 41st World Intellectual [...]

 Have you heard the expression”kill the snake while it is small”?
Google, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Verizon and Ericsson have reportedly joined together to fund a snake-killing operation.   Smart technologists and small companies beware.
Here is the story, from the ever-observant Valleywag Silicon Valley blog:
Copyfight: Google, HP and others form League of Extraordinary Patent Holders
“Google, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Verizon and [...]

1. What scares big companies is disruptive innovaton carried out by individuals and small firms. There are no scale effects in innovation. Bach, Mozart were individuals. Larry Ellison of Oracle famously says that software technology innovation can no longer be accomplished in large companies. This is why Oracle acquires companies [...]

BIOTECHNOLOGY: The Patenting of DNA — Doll 280 (5364): 689 — Science
…Without the incentive of patents, there would be less investment in DNA research, and scientists might not disclose their new DNA products to the public. Issuance of patents to such products not only results in the dissemination of technological information to the scientific community [...]

To the editor,

I am writing regarding this New York Times article, on patents.
This article conveys the surprising “finding” that for public companies in the United States, patent litigation costs are apparently much higher than previous researchers have documented.  Boston University researchers Bresson and Mauer claim that “Domestic litigation costs alone, meanwhile, soared to $16 [...]

Economic research on patent licensing by industry demonstrates a maturity curve. Disputes over intellectual property are comparatively rare in industries where intellectual property ownership has long been accepted, such as semiconductors, electronics, telecommunications and biotechnology. Intellectual property licensing is well-understood and actively pursued among companes. While there is inevitable grumbling about prices, [...]

Digg this story
Regarding Jon Dudas’ testimony today to the Senate Judiciary Commitee, as reported in advance by Steve Lohr in the New York Times yesterday.
Dear Steve,
Unfortunately, I need to take you to task for your article yesterday in the Times about patents.
The creation of inventions and intellectual property is vital to the American economy and [...]

Another personal friend of mine worked diligently for years for a well-known billionaire (well-known, among other things, for his admiration for Jimi Hendrix). Many things were invented, patents were filed and are now issuing in my friend’s name.  These patents were assigned to the company, as part of my friend’s employment agreement.
The compensation to [...]

As recently as two months ago a young entrepreneur took an invention to a company I am invested in, negotiated to sell or license the invention. After many meetings the CEO told this person that the company had decided it could just copy the invention. At the next meeting the CEO said that [...]