Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Patents "R" Us

It's about time the patent process enters the 21st century particularly when DRM (Digital Rights Management) transgressions rears it's ugly head to impede the advancement of technology in ways only lawyers can appreciate. The reason for hope lies with the web and peer review of pending patents, something that could end the abuses that plague any industry producing anything worthy of a patent.

"Peer-to-Patent, is straightforward: Publish patent applications on the Web for all to see and let anyone with relevant expertise -- academics, colleagues, even potential rivals -- offer input to be passed along to the Patent Office."

Now if only this process could be applied to politics (& copyright) where open source input becomes the way government does business. Who knows, maybe the system might actually work for a change. Hey, it's worth a shot given just how bad things have gotten in the good old US of A.

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