A patent is a piece of intellectual property that protects an inventor and allows him or her special privileges with that invention. The definition of patents has changed as time goes on and with the advent of the computer. At this point code is not considered patentable because a patent has to deal with a unique process or invention. Code can be protected as a trade secret or possibly copyrighted.
A patent lasts 20 years and helps to protect the inventor. It is a moral protection in that it is an attempt to make sure that the inventor can make money off their work and can’t have it stolen from them. Patents also has economic reasons for existence. If the inventor gets financial benefits from their new ideas they are more likely to keep trying to invent and push technology forward.
I think that patents should be granted but they need to be changed. Currently the patents last too long and don’t actually protect small companies from larger companies stealing their ideas. It is too easy for a large company to just use their larger law team to make it impossible for a small company to fight to protect their patents. Patents should be easier to protect and not cost millions of dollars in lawyers to do so. Currently the big players in tech will regularly sue each other for immense amounts of money. This has no impact on their profitability and instead just shows any emerging company that they will have to compete with massive companies and fight them for legal patents.
One of the only ways to protect a patent and sue a larger company that is infringing on the patent is to use a patent troll. The companies that specialize in patent trolls will take the case and get partial ownership of the IP with the stipulation that they will pay the company that hired them if they win money in the lawsuit. I think this whole part of the system is wrong. The patent trolls halt innovation and are a detriment to people that are trying to invent new methods and products. However, I still think that patents should be given out and protected. If the patents are easier to protect a smaller company does not have to worry as much about a larger giant stealing the IP and when sued for the infringement just lawyering up with expensive attorneys that makes the smaller company unable to ever win the suit. By making patents easier to protect we can protect the little guy and increase innovation.
The other thing that I would want to change with patents is how long they last. I think patents should last a specific length of time based on the industry. For rocket science and long lifecycle industries I am ok with a patent lasting 20 years as it does now. However for a quicker product lifecycle industry I think that patents should be much shorter. When new phones with new features are coming out almost every month, it doesn’t make sense for one company to patent a piece of a phone and that patent lasts 20 years. 2 years is enough time to profit off the patent but is also a short enough time to not stop innovation and instead would encourage it.
In conclusion I agree with the concept of a patent, but think that they should only be protectable if the inventor is attempting to commercialize the invention. This would get rid of patent trolls. I also believe in making the longevity of patents based on industry standards, and that patents should be easier to protect. I think these changes to patents would increase innovation and help the economy.
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