4,438,511 and 4,799,258), web browsers, and secure encryption technologies (1980 Patent No. How about living or doing business without the Internet? Although the original TCP/IP protocol was not patented, digital packet switching technology (1984 Patent Nos.
#Paten nedit software
5,019,696) that enable you to buy those products, or the distribution logistics software that allows for the efficient distribution of goods to a store near you (1996 Patent No. 2,612,994) on the products you purchase, credit card readers (1991 Patent No.
Imagine shopping without the use of bar codes (1952 Patent No. Nor would we enjoy the whole panoply of other patented medical and diagnostic innovations (many of them software enabled) developed in recent decades.
4,849,893)?įor tens of millions of us, there would be literally no life at all without pacemakers (1962 Patent No. Would you even board an airplane today if it didn’t have the embedded avionics software required for flying, navigation and communications (1989, Patent No. 4,271,402) that allows our cars’ engine, braking, and emission control systems to run smoothly.īut cars are not the only mode of transportation critically dependent upon patented inventions. Nor would we have the on-board vehicle diagnostic software (1981 Patent No. 3,789,409) and even EZ Pass automated toll collectors (1983 Patent No. 4,836,616) or GPS navigation software (1974 Patent No. For example:Īmericans love their cars, but imagine a world without automated traffic lights (1957 Patent No. One way to do that is to consider what life would be like had the PTAB “death squad” been around during the past half century killing 90% of patents in those days. This is a terrific way to drive the innovators out of any industry.īut before we abolish the Patent Office or allow PTAB to keep killing nearly all patent claims they elect to review, let’s take a moment to imagine a world without patents. That’s because they know others will simply copy their inventions with impunity and then sell them at a much lower cost, since it didn’t cost them a dime to develop these in the first place.
Without patents and the competitive protections they afford, individuals and companies will not invest the money it takes to develop new cures for disease or create new technological wonders. If we really believe that 90% of Patent Office output is garbage, then we should just shut the agency down and save everyone all the trouble. Even if you stipulate that there are bad patents that shouldn’t have been issued, is it really believable that 90% of all patents granted are invalid - despite being issued only after careful review by PTO examiners in a process that takes over two years and results in the rejection of half of all patent applications?