Following up on Stephen Spear's post on the District judge's ruling against the attempts by the U.S. Patent Office to reign in firms trying to apply for large numbers of patents at once -

The full court decision can be found here [PDF file]. [h/t: CourtHouseNews.com]

While the ruling contains a lot of legalese, the judge also manages to describe in great detail (and relatively simple language) the process involved in patent applications - and why the current system allows firms with large financial and legal resources to get away with murder in the patent realm by being able to outlast the patent office and wear it down. Definitely worth a read.

The end results of the ruling are indeed tragic. However, I have to admit that the judge may have a point when he says that the proposed changes need to come form Congress itself - not from the whims of unelected and unaccountable administrative officials (even though these particular whims are very much welcome). If you give too much lawmaking power to administrators, the day will come when the pendulum swings the other way after pro-monopolist workers come to dominate the Patent Office. But since Congress is frequently bought off by the patent lobby, that leaves the future landscape rather bleak. Hopefully the Supreme Court will continue its attempts at patent reform by enlarging the very incremental steps they have undertook thus far.