Is it still for science and innovation? Or are scientists being coopted for someone's monopolistic business reasons?

It's All Mein!

Summary: Patent systems are being hijacked by monopolists and plutocrats for their financial gain and protectionism; it's a longstanding issue because it begets constitutional violations (glossed over by bought or installed "Justices", which is another creeping threat, especially in light of recent developments in the US Supreme Court and patently, manifestly illegal actions by Team UPC)

WHO or what is patent law actually for in this century?

2 days ago the FFII's president recalled this old page that says:

Patent (n.) A medieval economic tool by which politicians attempt to stimulate trade and wealth by banning innovation and competition in crucial areas of technology.

It is easy, but incorrect, to confuse patents with other remnants of medieval thinking such as bloodletting, witch burning, and the use of garlic to ward off infectious diseases. Patents in fact have two main functions. First, they protect inefficient and uncompetitive businesses from the ravages of the free market; second they provide an elegant model for tax avoidance, since royalties on patents are exempt of tax, or very lowly taxed, in most countries.

Techrights wrote nearly 5,000 posts about patents in Europe, but a similar number of posts concerned patents in the US (we had been covering the US affairs in earlier years). We've long shown Americans shaping EPO rules or deviations from the EPC for personal and corporate gain. Some weeks ago we showed how António Campinos goes to their lobbyists' events whilst openly boasting they can work around the law. He's not shy to promote illegal software patents because he's staying in power irrespective of his behaviour.

Today's post concerns input from a reader, who knows the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from personal experience. It's not about 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 (or Alice at SCOTUS) but about broader questions.

"Decided to punish myself and look through the USPTO report," our reader said, "and was surprised to find that, on page 28, they address the issue of costs, but, of course, not the fees they charge, which pays for these ridiculous reports they specialize in. The 2020 annual report for the USPTO was 244 pages long, while the 2020 annual report for Apple - maybe the largest corporation in the world - was 71 pages long."

"I'm sure they don't read, much less heed, comments they receive, but, they do record that they receive them, apparently."

If one looks at page 57 one finds "Adam Mossoff, Professor, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University" [sic] (Mossoff is a paid shill in "Professor" clothing; Mossoff was mentioned many times in Techrights).

"George Mason University has become a notorious radical right-wing "university" in recent decades," our reader explains. "I actually grew up maybe 40-50k from George Mason, and I actually was accepted to attend there, but I was persuaded to try to go to a better school. It was a fairly new school in 1972, when I would have attended."

"It has gained a horrible reputation in recent decades. I suspect it was intended to be horrible from the beginning, knowing where it is located. Just yesterday I read this article, which discussed Henry Manne and George Mason."

After around 1970, the Koch brothers took over the intellectual leadership funding for the Republican Party and organized that Party’s billionaires to become the successors of what the DuPont brothers had created. It increasingly became known now, as “libertarianism.” One of the main universities that the Kochs funded was George Mason University, whose Henry G. Manne became, after Coase at Chicago, the main developer of “Law and Economics.” (In 2016, the Koch brothers renamed it the “Antonin Scalia Law School.”)

"The USPTO is located close to George Mason," the reader explains, "and my first negative encounter with the USPTO - many years ago now - was with some "lawyer" named Jefferson D. Taylor and it was his refusal to resolve an issue for an inventor - me - that began everything."

"I found his bio on the USPTO website, and he attended George Mason, and grew up very close to George Mason, and worked as a political hack for a local politician, before getting a cushy gig at the USPTO."

"By the way, notice the D in the name Jefferson D. Taylor. I would bet you any amount of money that the D is an abbreviation for Davis, and that he is named after Jefferson Davis, the traitor who was President of the confederates states during the US Civil War."

"A few years ago, as I was searching the web for aid in fighting the USPTO, I ran across some IP organization at George Mason, and called them - or somehow communicated with them - and they were extremely obnoxious, because an inventor - an individual - just doesn't matter."

The meddling by Mossoff has long been documented here. Mossoff is like a proxy for oligarchs' interests and he presents himself in a misleading fashion.

Here in Europe we have many 'Mossoffs', which include Team UPC. They infest and infiltrate key institutions, making them unpleasant to honest workers and setting them well adrift, away from the original goals, charters, or laws. ⬆