Home | TrendTracker | PowerBlog Reviews | The Experts | Newsletter
ABOUT
SMALL BUSINESS TRENDS brings you daily updates on trends that influence the global small business market.
Anita Campbell, Editor
Past life: CEO, corporate executive, tech entrepreneur, retailer, general counsel, marketer, HR ... (more)
email me
free business magazines
FREE BUSINESS MAGAZINES
Trade publications FREE to qualified professionals. No hidden offers and no purchase necessary.
On Wall Street
The Deal
Computing Canada
CIO
Employee Benefit
Oracle Magazine
100+ additional titles. Click to browse.
ARCHIVES & SEARCH
Previous Small Business Trends articles can be found at the links below:
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
Or, use the search box below to find a
specific post:


NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our FREE Small Business Trends newsletter. (View Current)

We publish regularly and promise we won't share your email address with anyone. (Privacy Policy)
SMALL BIZ INFO & RESOURCES
BLOGS TO READ DAILY*
* Don’t have time to read several dozen blogs a day? Pick two or three. Your brain will thank you for it.
ONLINE COMMUNITIES
BLOG DIRECTORIES
THE BUZZ

SPECIAL RESOURCES
Small Business Trends Radio
Tuesdays, 1:00 PM Eastern U.S. time
on Voice America network
Click to listen

November 1st: Torsten Jacobi, CEO of Creative Weblogging, joins host Anita Campbell. Sponsored by Six Disciplines. Show details.
Friday, December 12, 2003
A Change in U.S. Patent Direction?
The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, James Rogan, is stepping down. This news was greeted positively in many quarters, including by some folks over at Marketing Wonk who had this to say:
    His two-year tenure marked a high-point in patent office whimsy, allowing for many process patents that enabled Internet companies and others to legally prevent other people from using what many would consider obvious non-innovations. In stepping down, he said he would like to work on his autobiography (may we suggest "I Can't Believe They Granted It"), which will surely be available via one-click shopping at, well, just at Amazon.com.
A growing number of corporate and government officials is warning that the U.S. patent system is broken, threatening to stunt technological innovation. They claim that the Patent Office is approving overly broad patents for software and Internet technologies, jeopardizing the viability of the Internet. MSNBC writes this:
    Critics hope that the impending departure of [patent office] Director James E. Rogan...might lead to consideration of a new approach.

    Overall, the number of patents has nearly doubled since 1990, fueled in large measure by the high-tech boom. The patent office now has a backlog of 450,000 applications pending for all types of inventions; software and Internet-related patents account for more than 15 percent of all patents granted. In recent months, several of those patents have spawned court disputes, involving such high-profile technology as Microsoft Corp.'s Internet browser, the BlackBerry e-mail device, and eBay Inc.'s online shopping system.

    In a lengthy report released in October, the Federal Trade Commission bluntly questioned the rapid proliferation of patents, especially those covering high-technology advances.
Overly broad patents hurt businesses of all sizes, especially small businesses. Overly broad patents increase the costs of doing business and impede online commerce. Small businesses are forced into added expense when they (a) have to change technologies upon discovering that a technology is subject to a patent, or (b) are forced to pay royalties -- even if they and millions of others have been using the technology for years.
More news... more trends... more insight...

Home | Privacy | Terms | SmallBizTrends
(c) Copyright 2003 - 2005, Small Business Trends LLC. All rights reserved.