>While I can't argue the legal niceties, that does seem unfair to the
>"average" inventor, who more than likely is poorly funded compared
>to a corporate that can steamroller in and swipe the product merely
>by dint of being able to afford the paperwork. It's a shitty old world
>innit ?
>

well we've come a long way from scratching the number off the top of a chip :-)

people rarely invent anything anymore, merely use cash and a poorly thought
through and administered 'system', instead of gun boats, in an attempt to
claim ownership.

The patent system, as it stands, is international intellectual piracy on a
grand scale, the system originally conceived to stop piracy is now the
biggest supporter of it in fact.

Your example comes under the same category as companies that go to
developing countries and 'patent' all their traditional natural medicine
sources....and many other examples...

ie, its 'bull'.... a large portion of the world is getting fed up with it
and a patent will be worth nothing in a few years, because the blatent
abuse/exploitation of the patent system will ultimately drive the majority
to reject it's validity in both their physical territory and their ethical
values.

Both majority corporate and population opinion will be moving to an
anti-patent stance unless the patent world cleans it's act up and starts
drawing sensible distinctions between 'naturally occuring', 'discovery' ,
'invention' and 'created', the whole system is heading for collapse.

The parallel is colonisation during the 18th and 19th centuries, a lot of
territory was 'patented' and 'ownership' claimed.....eventually it ends in
tears.....patenting, when taken to extremes amounts to the same thing, and
the end result will be the same also.

We are already seeing the beginnings of it with drugs in third world*
countries , and it is apparent that the big players are aware of where this
will go if they fight their corner too hard and hence capitulated with a
compromise. This will prove to be the tip of a very big iceberg.

(*=not a label I like, but used for better general understanding)

Once something eventually loses general social acceptance, it collapses, no
matter what the lawyers and judges think, in fact eventually the elected
administration will reflect the view of its population due to political
expediancy even if not through true belief in the issue.

Graham



R.F. Professionals    http://www.rfpa.com
Radio Amateurs        http://www.rfham.com

--
http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us!
email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body