[ale] IP the latest business model on the block

[kjkrum at comcast.net (Kevin Krumwiede)]

On Sun, 8 Feb 2004 08:03:13 -0500
"Adrin" <haswes at mindspring.com> wrote:

> This type of business worries me. It just seems
> that people are getting patents either through purchase or kind of
> after the fact, Then they just start suing other companies that have
> already been using the technology.

It is becoming a more common business model.  One of the most notorious
companies doing this is PanIP Holdings.  The name says it all: they
think they own everything.  Yet they've never actually invented or
produced anything.

Our patent system -- the entire scope of our "intellectual property"
laws, actually -- is due for a revolutionary reform by a knowledgeable
leader.  Unfortunately, I think it's going to take some big company
getting majorly bitten by this before anything happens.

And they wonder why everyday folk don't respect intellectual property...

Krum