Patents

I tend to run off at the mouth sometimes, and articles like this one can really set me off. Robert Pozen has several good ideas, though none of the proposals alter the basic underpinnings of the Patent process; something which is the real necessity. Patents have screwed up business practice in the United States for much of its history, and should be rationalized. This methodology must start at the heart of the Patent process; i.e., Patents are necessary to protect Investor interest, but should not be utilized to create Wealth, control business competition, or inhibit technological development.

The first realization must be that Patents are unnatural entities, created solely by Government interference in business activity, and therefore are some form of taxation. Keep that ideation in mind while One considers that current Patent regulations allow the Holder to set artificial Tax levels on the efforts of Others. Granting this right of taxation might even be beneficial, though the allowance by Government to the Holder to set the magnitude of the taxation most definitely is not of value or acceptable. The first Step in any revision of the Patent system must insist on Government issuance setting the magnitude of the liability that the Holder might charge for the Patent right. The Patent itself is artificial, so Government should set the limit of the imposition on Others, and the value of Protection for the Holder.

The next Step flows naturally for the setting the magnitude of the Patent royalty. This is Government statement that all Patent must be on Record, accessible to Anyone, and open for Production to Anyone willing to pay the set royalty. Patent Holders will be under obligation to pursue identification of Patent infringement, notify the Patent Office or designated Patent Court, where the infringers will be ordered to pay the previously-set royalties. The important element in the whole Process states that Government has the inalienable right of Taxation, can utilize any system of royalty rates it desires, and that all Patent royalty rates should be passed by the lower House of Congress. lgl