As suggested by Adam Davidson, the co-founder of NPR's “Planet Money,” a podcast, blog and radio series heard on “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered” and “This American Life", it might be true that it's way easier to actually transform ideas into real objects and mass product them in order to make some money out of it – "today’s basement inventors have it easy in ways their predecessors couldn’t have imagined". Inexpensive / free technology is readily available online: Google SketchUp makes it easy for anybody to mock up a 3D digital model. Globalization means that jobs could be outsourced at a cheaper rate, and efficiency encouraged as any inventor can contact a Chinese factory, many of which are so hungry for American business that they will "create a prototype for next to nothing". Sites like Etsy.com make it easier to reach a market, and others, like Quirky.com, allow users to simply suggest an idea and share the royalties if it makes it to the market.Sounds amazing? True. However, it doesn't mean that the cost at which an invention is protected has evolved at the same rate over years. “The patent system has become rather costly for a small inventor,” says James Bessen, a lecturer at the Boston University School of Law. “Go back 100 years, and patents were very inexpensive to get. You didn’t have to have a lawyer to get one. The system is working in a very different way than it did years ago, and that favors large corporations.” The article mentions that the average costs for a patent are about $10,000 nowadays probably quite a considerable amount for many home inventors. Even though there's been some improvements since David Kappos has been appointed at United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2009, but the costs for defending a patent infringement lawsuit have still remained, at around $1 million.
It is true that in our context of wireless mobile technology this might seem a small problem, because there aren't many "home inventors" in this field to begin with – no individual can really spend millions and millions on R&D and hire the brightest straight out of the ivies, but we have seen again and again system-wide inefficiency associated even with these large companies' lawsuits. It'd be awesome to see in what directions the system would be improved / changed, because it is ultimately the one thing that shapes the future of all cases and inventions.
Having to spend $10,000 to secure a patent nowadays is absolutely ridiculous. That is a tremendous amount of money for a home inventor and is seriously stifling innovation.
ReplyDeleteI think the USPTO should simplify its application process that would allow an ‘inspector’ to tell if the invention was viable and if it is, help the inventor search any prior claims if done digitally.
ReplyDeleteIf both steps go through, then the USPTA can grant a final approval. Instead of the current method where they check all 3 steps at once, and if any step in the process is filed incorrectly, the inventor would incur extra expenses and the patent will have a longer filing duration.
The whole process can be confusing at times and also result in tremendous prevention of getting people to start the process. It's great that some people can get over 50 patents but I believe a true inventor-friendly system would allow for everyday people to get it.
ReplyDeleteAdam, I dont think the $10,000 they are referring to is the initial cost. I think it is the cost to maintain it over its lifespan. Regardless, I think this is the golden age for inventors considering how many different media and social media outlets are out there. In terms of protecting ones invention it may not be the "golden age" but its not a bad time to start protecting your invention.
ReplyDeleteI think mobile technology will also be facing a huge influx of "home inventors" because as it progresses, more people can access it. With Google's open source Android platform available to everyone, the patenting system will need a way to process all of those inventions.
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