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SCALE7x: Courts have new "teeth" to limit software patentsSCALE7x: Courts have new "teeth" to limit software patentsPosted Feb 26, 2009 15:21 UTC (Thu) by pboddie (subscriber, #50784)Parent article: SCALE7x: Courts have new "teeth" to limit software patents
"Since 1994, US litigation costs have substantially exceeded profits from patents," he said, except in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Although some would argue that this is a sign of "health" for patents in those industries, it could quite easily be a consequence of other factors. For example, if a patent cartel was sufficiently stable in the pharmaceutical industry such that the members didn't fall out and sue each other very much, then the litigation costs would remain low and the "monopoly profits" would remain relatively high. This could arise from, say, a lack of new entrants in the business willing to run the gauntlet of litigation from established players.
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Buying R&D Posted Feb 26, 2009 18:31 UTC (Thu) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link]
Patents are an economic development program that the government uses to subsidize R&D in the private sector. You're right -- just looking at litigation costs isn't enough. You have to compare a patent program to other kinds of R&D incentives, such as prizes and grants.
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