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.

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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.
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• 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?
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• 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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