04.01.17
Gemini version available ♊︎Small Business Innovation Protection Act (SBIPA) Regarding the US Small Business Administration (SBA) Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem
The problem is not the lack of patents
Summary: A new effort which proclaims to help small businesses would merely exacerbate existing problems by further saturating the United States with patents, potentially spurring further disputes and increased litigious activity, shifting budget away from research and development and into patents and litigation
THE USPTO is under attack led by the patent lobby, which is attempting to overthrow its reformist measures (i.e. progress) by means of ousting its Director. We wrote about this earlier today. They are trying to shift money away from R&D and into their own pockets (P&L).
Political avenues too are being experimented with.
“Recently, patent maximalists formed the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU), which is actually a patent maximalism lobby which pretends to be about “education”…”Not every “Act” is a good act, but in recent years there were some beneficial or at worst “benign” (not necessarily monovalent/benevolent) “Acts” related to patents. We wrote about all of them quite a few times.
The following “Act”, however, came to our attention today and it’s presented to the public in a rather misleading manner, as if the solution to a lot of patents is yet more patents.
Recently, patent maximalists formed the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU), which is actually a patent maximalism lobby which pretends to be about “education” — the same word used in the following Saturday announcement (odd choice of day also because of the first of April, though it’s definitely not satirical).
“Politicians are trying to oversell patents to defend from patents — a strategy that would never improve things.”Well, right now, based on IP Wire, something called U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) would be compelled to waste budget. Politicians are trying to oversell patents to defend from patents — a strategy that would never improve things. How about providing some kind of crackdowns on patent trolls that are preying on vulnerable businesses?
SBA has a government (.gov) site, which says: “We support America’s small businesses. The SBA connects entrepreneurs with lenders and funding to help them plan, start and grow their business.”
Here is what the announcement said earlier today:
U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Jim Risch (R-ID) announced that they have reintroduced the Small Business Innovation Protection Act, bipartisan legislation to help small businesses protect their intellectual property by improving education on obtaining and protecting patents.
[...]
Obtaining a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) protects against infringement in the U.S. However, if a small business does not register in a foreign market, such as China, it has no protection there. Patent protection is necessary to ensure the ability to enforce a businesses’ rights both at home and abroad. Additionally, patents help defend American inventors against lawsuits. The Small Business Innovation Protection Act will help ensure small businesses are aware of the need and mechanisms available to accurately and effectively pursue an international patent.
Patents for small businesses are not going to accomplish anything. A patent portfolio so small does not protect against lawsuits (the above claim is false) and barely acts as a deterrent, just as means of retaliation, which would not work for a small business against a large one. The whole system as it stands is tilted in favour of large corporations. How about a government programme similar to PTAB (AIA) that would sponsor legal defence for small businesses attacked by trolls? This would likely help eliminate all sorts of abusive trolls and their destructive patents, before they can proceed to extorting the next small business.
In our view, Small Business Innovation Protection Act (SBIPA) would boil down to passage of public money to the patent ‘industry’, i.e. provide a cushion and supply them with a sort of government welfare. █
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