Program turns to online masses to improve patents

September 15, 2008 By JOELLE TESSLER , AP Technology Writer

(AP) -- Some of the biggest players in the technology industry complain that the U.S. patent system is broken - putting too many patents of dubious merit in the hands of people who can use them to drag companies and other inventors to court.


Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

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lowbatteries
Sep 15, 2008

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It's good to see they're trying something new, though the complete openness is an issue - especially where a company from China could come and steal your idea and have your product in production before you even get approved.
weewilly
Sep 15, 2008

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Secrecy until an award for Patent Pending or the actual item, needs to be done quietly and not openly. Why not just publish it in the newspapers then?
Roj
Sep 16, 2008

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Intellectual property thieves search patents immediately after their approved & published. Patent insurance to fund international litigation projects has provided partial royalty recovery.
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