File First, Invent Later?

http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/82096

by wrrice • 15 years ago

15 5 15 years ago

Invent!? Who said anything about inventing? It says file. Inventing is what the suckers who have to pay me do.

tptacek• 15 years ago

Perhaps a slightly misleading headline. You can't file a patent without inventing something; to be enforceable, a patent must document a "best known mode" of operation sufficient to enable someone reasonably skilled in the disciplines relevant to the patent to actually build the thing.

So this article does not in fact suggest that you can file "hover jellybeans" just because the thought occurred to you to do so. Rather, it adjusts a somewhat arcane dispute resolution system that many of you didn't even realize existed so that the patent system in fact works the same way you thought it did, which is that the first person to file a document describing and enabling an invention unencumbered by prior art wins the patent.

Presaging the "OMG WTF PATENT LOL" stuff, let me say: I don't care. This story doesn't have anything to do with whether software patents are reasonable. Tell me they're evil and I'll agree with you.

cachemoney• 15 years ago

If two people independently invent something at about the same time, does that mean it's obvious to someone skilled in the art?

In those scenarios, I'd like to see both patents thrown out.

tzs• 15 years ago

> If two people independently invent something at about the same time, does that mean it's obvious to someone skilled in the art?

No. If it was you would have dozens or hundreds of simultaneous inventors, not just two.

billswift• 15 years ago

If it was actually obvious, most people wouldn't pay the fees to file. Just the rip-off artists hoping for a big score.

File First, Invent Later?

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