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November 14, 2011

Collision

The Wall Street Journal scores some points with "When Patent, Antitrust Worlds Collide." "Antitrust law frowns on monopolies. Patent law grants them to inventors." The courts have built in Janus-like bias, so as to be able to rule as they like, almost always in favor of plutocracy. "Intellectual-property rights do not confer a privilege to violate the antitrust laws," one court wrote in a 1999 opinion. "But it is also correct that the antitrust laws do not negate the patentee's right to exclude others from patent property." Getting to the bottom line - "The patent system is very seriously screwed up," says Ed Black, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, an industry lobbying group. "It's being misused and gamed by a variety of players in a variety of ways." The focus of the article is on the handheld mobile device market. The upshot is that patents do nothing to foster innovation, but much to limit competition, and cost consumers, as well as innovative companies, while entrenching the powers that be.

Posted by Patent Hawk at November 14, 2011 11:21 AM | Patents In Business