Slashdot tells us that soon US Patent Reviews Via Wiki… which may halt some of the idiotic patents being granted. But only if someone actually cares enough… Given the terse and obfuscated language that most of them are written in I guess that only the really dumb ones will rally people to post some prior art examples….
Tom Smith
Tom Smith is now helping improve collaboration at the University of York.
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One genuine limitation of the Internet is the viral nature of electronic information prohibits open online discussion amongst inventors. For instance the most established newsgroup alt.inventors is also the hunting ground for patent lawyers, keen to secure payments from the naïve. Equally there are activists within advising against these unwise investments. The result is very little open discussion of inventions because of pressure from both sides. While I welcome this move to encourage €œPatent Reviews via Wiki€ I fear it will not go nearly far enough. Could the success of the Open Source Software Initiative (e.g. Linux) also mean that inventors would similarly collaborate freely if patent lawyers could be kept out?
I don’t think a wiki can solve the problem of what to do with an idea before it “exists”… there seems precious little anyone can do except keep schtum and make the idea so fab that in real terms,,,, it’s theirs…
Wikis may help with the “prior art” problem though…