Against Monopoly

defending the right to innovate

Monopoly corrupts. Absolute monopoly corrupts absolutely.

250000 Patents for Smartphone Technology

John Bennett says this needs to be shouted from the rooftop.

There Are 250,000 Active Patents That Impact Smartphones; Representing One In Six Active Patents Today

I agree.

[Posted at 10/21/2012 01:20 AM by David K. Levine on Patents comments(2)]

Open Book Publisher

There is a lot of talk in academic circles about open publishing models - but mostly for journals. However efforts are underway for books as well: Openbook publishers has been taking the lead in this - they are the publishers of my recent book Is Behavioral Economic Doomed. They publish under a creative commons license that allows free reproduction and modification - yet we still think we can cover the costs and even make a buck or two.

There is a nice article about them here.

[Posted at 10/12/2012 07:09 AM by David K. Levine on Copyright comments(2)]

Patents and Secrecy

It is commonly thought that patents are good because people reveal secrets rather than keeping them. But they keep secrets about intermediate results so that they can be first to patent. Via Pedro Dal Bo a remarkable video about what happens when pharmaceutical discoveries aren't kept secret. It's a bit ironic that people think that for pharmaceuticals patents are the only answer.

[Posted at 10/12/2012 06:54 AM by David K. Levine on Pharmaceutical Patents comments(1)]

What the New York Times Should Have Asked

This is what Apple "invented" the idea of sliding a latch to open something. But because they were doing it on a computer they got to patent it. Probably it cost some effort to work out the code to create the image and so forth - although if it cost them millions their programmers are incompetent - even tens of thousands seems high for that particular coding job. But here is the point: Nobody gets to copy their code with or without patents. The thing they actually paid for is protected.

[Posted at 10/08/2012 10:18 AM by David K. Levine on Patents comments(1)]

Almost Famous

The New York Times on patents. Original reporting and a strong bias in favor of patents - after all Apple says they spent millions of dollars developing slide to unlock and they'd never have bothered if they couldn't patent it!

[Posted at 10/08/2012 10:10 AM by David K. Levine on Patents comments(1)]

From the Trenches

Some very thoughtful - dare I say innovative? - remarks about patents from Cecil D. Quillen, Jr., former General Counsel, Senior Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of Eastman Kodak.

[Posted at 10/06/2012 07:24 AM by David K. Levine on Patents comments(3)]

The mainstream media wises up

Fifteen minutes of fame. I think the Apple-Samsung craziness is starting to wake people up to what patents really are about.

[Posted at 09/30/2012 08:11 AM by David K. Levine on IP Bullying comments(1)]

Against Monopoly

An editorial in the St. Louis Post Dispatch...as you will see they consulted with the real experts. The best quote:

Apple ... sued Microsoft, accusing it of stealing software to create Windows. Microsoft's Bill Gates' retort to Apple's Steve Jobs has become a classic: "Steve, just because you broke into Xerox's house before I did and took the TV doesn't mean I can't go in later and take the stereo."

[Posted at 08/31/2012 05:18 AM by David K. Levine on Patent Madness comments(2)]

What has Apple wrought?

Sent Samsung sales through the roof?

[Posted at 08/30/2012 11:47 AM by David K. Levine on Patent Madness comments(0)]

Apple heads towards the scrapheap of history

My view of Apple-Samsung summarized pretty well in the Financial Times. Just bear in mind that companies that build great products generally find that more profitable to compete in the market rather than in court.

[Posted at 08/29/2012 08:21 AM by David K. Levine on Patent Madness comments(4)]

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