How many times have we seen it? Whether it is dealing with national policies, professional sports, or your local civil service, so many times we try to make decisions to take care of the symptoms rather than the core issue itself.
There are numerous examples we see on our daily news where a rash decision was made by any of the three aforementioned examples listed above that was more about put out a fire than about resolving a problem.
So, when it comes to curing the illness of patent infringement abuse and its spawn, “patent trolls” let’s not risk putting out the fire and deal with grass root issues. And what can be more grass roots of patent infringement than the handing out of patents itself.
Patent licensing in the United States is as old as invention itself in our great nation and we have quite the history for invention and innovation. Think about names like Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison. But, that doesn’t mean its ok to use the same system.
Seriously, although it’s not that old, our patent licensing system is way too out dated for the fast moving world of technology innovation that is taking place now. Don’t get the wrong idea; we have hard working men and women who deal the issuing of invention patents.
It’s not their fault that the current system hasn’t been looked at in 50 years, or that they haven’t be trained sufficiently to identify rightful licensing, or even that not all the right resources are available to them. No, it’s not their fault, the fault for that once again goes to the government.
Either way, in order to see real change come, a bulldozer has to be taken to the building and a new foundation needs to be laid.