Bonum Certa Men Certa

A Call for Patent Sanity

UK telephone box



Summary: The public's call for reform is motivated by improved understanding of today's debased patent system and how out-of-order (detached from its original mission statement) it has gotten; patent maximalism, if it does not completely unravel this whole system, severely discredits it

THE effort to paint everything as a "Science" or a "Technology" does not amuse us. We've come to the point where nature is being called something like "natural science" for the sake of patenting (there's also "biotech" and life has become "life science"). MedTech and similar words/phrases like Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) were tackled here before; this morning we saw this new piece about "Agritechs" (first time we see that as a single word). It says that "the decisions in Broccoli II and Tomato II led to disappointment amongst farmers and breeders, who viewed the decisions as putting unnecessary hurdles in the way of conventional breeding activities."



"It has long been pretty incredible that the European Patent Office (EPO) grants patents on plants, seeds and animals."Well, duh.

It has long been pretty incredible that the European Patent Office (EPO) grants patents on plants, seeds and animals. António Campinos and Benoît Battistelli have both done photo ops with groups that push for this lunacy, propelling that agenda. This, in my view, is even crazier than those ludicrous software patents in Europe (in effect monopolies on mathematics) because it's like claiming credit for the planet's own work (or "God" is you're a religious person). We've written about EPO protests over this matter for well over a decade now. We posted photographs from those protests as well. Remember those massive inflatable pigs? Who can forget?

"Patent examiners we know (yes, we occasionally speak to a few) are generally against that. They don't think it does any good to the reputation of the employer and their job, not to mention the sense of injustice associated with helping mega-corporations which are in effect chemical giants (they literally make poisons; see Bayer's and Monsanto's entire history) at the expense of poor farmers -- many of them so debt-saddled and stressed that they commit suicide."Also this morning we saw new sponsored 'articles' like Managing Intellectual Property's "EPO: Plants which are not patentable" (notice sponsorship note on the left hand side). All plants should not be patentable. The common loophole or workaround is GMO. Irrespective of the merit of the manipulation/mutation they look to patent it and if it reproduces, they then claim to 'own' that too. Quite a ploy for endless, limitless monopoly! The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is antagonistic towards that (because of Mayo for instance), whereas in Europe nothing was done to tackle the matter. The EPO continues to shelter the monopolies of Bayer/Monsanto.

Patent examiners we know (yes, we occasionally speak to a few) are generally against that. They don't think it does any good to the reputation of the employer and their job, not to mention the sense of injustice associated with helping mega-corporations which are in effect chemical giants (they literally make poisons; see Bayer's and Monsanto's entire history) at the expense of poor farmers -- many of them so debt-saddled and stressed that they commit suicide.

For the long-term survival of the patent system the credibility of the cause is essential; right now with COVID-19 the patent system is coming under endless scrutiny (and Watchtroll keeps moaning about the critics). How can we reconcile the need to find cures/inoculation -- as soon as possible to be distributed as widely as possible -- with the race for monopolies, exclusivity, and price-fixing efforts (related to access to medicines and generics being crushed).

"The patent system cannot survive for long (it may cease to exist altogether) if the public cannot be convinced that it serves the public interest."The patent system isn't like a 'God-given' thing; heck, it has barely existed in the entire history of human kind. It's a relatively young concept, mostly promoted if not also conceived by the super-rich looking to guard their wealth. They're not happy with SCOTUS examining constitutional aspects and coming up with 35 U.S.C. €§ 101/Alice because it limits the scope of monopoly. It increases freedom to operate (not the same as deregulation) and broadens the Commons.

The patent system cannot survive for long (it may cease to exist altogether) if the public cannot be convinced that it serves the public interest.

"...the public generally comes to realise that many patent monopolies are derived from the 'public purse' and then handed over to private hands that rip off the taxpayers."Two days ago CounterPunch published this article entitled "Is it Impossible to Envision a World Without Patent Monopolies?"

"Elisabeth Rosenthal," it said, "who is a very insightful writer on health care issues, had a column this morning warning that we may face very high prices for a coronavirus vaccine. She points out that this is in spite of the fact that the government is paying for much of the cost of the research."

This is another common cause for criticism; the public generally comes to realise that many patent monopolies are derived from the 'public purse' and then handed over to private hands that rip off the taxpayers. This is a gross abuse of the system and the more people catch up with it, the stronger the resistance will become. In this particular context, unlike with code, many lives are at stake.

Recent Techrights' Posts

When Abusive Law Firms (Working for Microsofters Against Us) Assert That Someone Writing in Social Media About Himself is Confidential Information
There was no reason to throw "GDPR" into 2 SLAPPs; they know it, but the goal was to increase the cost of a Defence and lessen the incentive to challenge the SLAPPs
Throwing Money at Lawyers Can't Stop Us (It Never Did)
Even just trying to censor things can result in the opposite of the desired outcome
BetaNews Has More or Less Died After Experiments With LLM Slop, Is Linuxsecurity Next?
It doesn't seem like BetaNews knows what it's doing, let alone what it talks about
 
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: "AI Fatigue and Crappiness"
Links for the day
Microsoft Attack Dogs Against Watchdogs and Guard Dogs in Software
Last year Microsofters hired attack dogs or "guns for hire"
Slop Cannot Replace Domain Expertise
All this "AI" hype (it's not even intelligence, it's all a misnomer, as many of us have insisted all along) will fizzle and be written off as a failed experiment
IBM's Fresh 'PIPs' (Action Before Layoffs)
At times like these, even once-reputable employers resort to PIPs and other procedures/tricks for denial of workers' rights
Microsoft is a Problem Not Just for Denmark
Every country should consider what Denmark is doing, why Denmark is doing it, and then do the same
The Slopfarms' Self Detonation
If more sites like BetaNews go under, then maybe we can still salvage some of the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 14, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 14, 2025
Links 14/06/2025: FDA Changes Priorities, Cassette Data Storage From The 1970s
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Steam Next Fest and Thoughts on Gemini
Links for the day
Site/Datacentre Maintenance Next Week
speed things up
Bulgaria: GNU/Linux Near 10%
The Bulgarian market seems to be changing
I Never Spoke to BetaNews. But BetaNews Wants to Ensure I Never Will, Either.
Sometimes just the reluctance to talk about it can say a great deal
Online Search or Large Search Engines Aren't Working Anymore
business models that directly compete with interests of Web users
Holidays and Breaks
I've hardly taken any long breaks since I got married
Danish OpenDocument Freedom
"year of Linux"
Links 14/06/2025: Wars and L.A. Distortion Effect
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Historic Ada Design and GeminiSpace.Club to Expire
Links for the day
Links 14/06/2025: India Plane Crash and Middle-Eastern War
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 13, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 13, 2025
Gemini Links 13/06/2025: (Not)virtues and Project Yeet Broadband
Links for the day
Links 13/06/2025: Journalists Targeted by Cracking, China-Japan and Israel-Iran Tensions Grow
Links for the day
Links 13/06/2025: US Reduces Nonessential Staff at Baghdad Embassy Ahead of Strikes in Iran, Invasion of California Debated
Links for the day
X11 is Free Software
Whether you agree (e.g. on politics) with the person/s forking it doesn't matter
The More Time Passes, the Better Our Advice on Social Control Media Seems
At the end of the day, any platform you do not control yourself is working for someone else
Twitter (X) is Dying, Now It's Just Like a Mafia-Type Operation of the Man Who Does Nazi Salutes in Public
a form of extortion
UK High Court Blasts Brett Wilson LLP for Misusing "GDPR" After Failed Efforts to Censor Critics Using 'Libel' Claims
No wonder this firm is rapidly shrinking
Recent Blunders in Microsoft GitHub (e.g. Slop-Generated Bug Reports or GPL Violations 'as a Service') Taking Their Toll?
Put bluntly, if you still use Microsoft GitHub, then you're slave to Microsoft
American Imperialism and Microsoft Plagiarism
Techrights will therefore do what Microsoft does not want it to do: it'll write even more about Microsoft
When They Have Nothing Left to Help Advance Abusive Litigation for Microsoft People... Other Than Throwing ~500 Pages of Someone Else's Work Into a PDF
Microsoft is having a very tough year
The Price of Exposing Corruption in Poland (and Elsewhere)
It's easier to participate in corruption than to merely do the right thing and oppose it
Slopwatch and Yet More Holes in 'Secure Boot' (as Usual!), Promoted Inside Linux by the Man We Are Suing
Today's Slopwatch will be short
Gemini Links 13/06/2025: People You've Left Behind, Life Update and OS Changes
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 12, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 12, 2025