Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on July 20, 2004 05:04 PM
Actually enforcing patents can be very very difficult. Each suit takes millions of dollars in legal fees. If the infringers are structured so they have no assets (as is typical in some industries already) after years of litigation you end up with nothing.
The USA always complains about other countries not enforcing intellectual property but in fact the USA is one of the worst violators. American corporations routinely set up 'affiliates' that own nothing but have their assets stripped by paying back 'loans' and 'fees' back to the parent. When sued for patent infringment they stall, then fold, and start all over again with another front company.
This dirty trick could, of course, be used on American companies. Bogus software patents will just hasten the process of destroying the patent system entirely.
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Enforcing Patents
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on July 20, 2004 05:04 PMThe USA always complains about other countries not enforcing intellectual property but in fact the USA is one of the worst violators. American corporations routinely set up 'affiliates' that own nothing but have their assets stripped by paying back 'loans' and 'fees' back to the parent. When sued for patent infringment they stall, then fold, and start all over again with another front company.
This dirty trick could, of course, be used on American companies. Bogus software patents will just hasten the process of destroying the patent system entirely.
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