Comments on: Patent Sense: Understanding Risk with Legal Eagles and Black Swans http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/08/21/patent-sense-understanding-risk-with-legal-eagles-and-black-swans/ by Stephen E. Arnold Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:55:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Stephen E. Arnold http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/08/21/patent-sense-understanding-risk-with-legal-eagles-and-black-swans/comment-page-1/#comment-21614 Stephen E. Arnold Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:08:30 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/?p=1491#comment-21614 Curt Monash, Companies with deep pockets are one major factor in the US patent mess. Toss in trolls, Nathan Myrvold's outfit, and presidential appointees who think patents are the type of leather formal loafers sport, and we have a situation in the US of considerable disadvantage to some. Keeping secrets may work better. I have zero patents and many, many secrets. Smaller outfits may want to follow my approach. It's cheaper and permits an addled goose to make observations without giving away too many goodies such as the method for locating information; for example, Google's dataspaces and their relationship to a drowning world of Codd databases. Oh, the Myrvold write up http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_27/b3991401.htm is useful even today. Stephen Arnold Curt Monash,

Companies with deep pockets are one major factor in the US patent mess. Toss in trolls, Nathan Myrvold’s outfit, and presidential appointees who think patents are the type of leather formal loafers sport, and we have a situation in the US of considerable disadvantage to some. Keeping secrets may work better. I have zero patents and many, many secrets. Smaller outfits may want to follow my approach. It’s cheaper and permits an addled goose to make observations without giving away too many goodies such as the method for locating information; for example, Google’s dataspaces and their relationship to a drowning world of Codd databases. Oh, the Myrvold write up http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_27/b3991401.htm is useful even today.

Stephen Arnold

]]> By: Curt Monash http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/08/21/patent-sense-understanding-risk-with-legal-eagles-and-black-swans/comment-page-1/#comment-21591 Curt Monash Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:50:38 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/?p=1491#comment-21591 Stephen, That all makes sense. I'd go on to add that a company with deep pockets is even less likely to have to shut a product line down due to a patent squabble than one that's in tenuous financial shape. Companies and their shareholders do get hurt, at least somewhat, by patent squabbles. However, in the vast majority of cases they pay cash to make the problem go away, without their customers ever being affected. CAM Stephen,

That all makes sense. I’d go on to add that a company with deep pockets is even less likely to have to shut a product line down due to a patent squabble than one that’s in tenuous financial shape. Companies and their shareholders do get hurt, at least somewhat, by patent squabbles. However, in the vast majority of cases they pay cash to make the problem go away, without their customers ever being affected.

CAM

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