The demand for removal of the controversial patent system is getting louder and louder in the United Sates. Technology majors are increasingly directing their attention to patent lawsuits and resultantly, a recent Stanford University analysis revealed that nearly $20 billion was spent on patent litigation and patent purchases in the last two years.
According to a New York Times report, the amount spent by technology giants Apple and Google on patent lawsuits is much bigger than what they have pumped into research and development (R&D) of new products.
Quoting several sources, the Times article detailed how aggressive is the patent quest at technological companies such as Apple where Mr. Steve Jobs was of the opinion that if someone can dream up an idea, they should apply for a patent even if it's never build.
Apple, recently won a won a $1 billion patent infringement judgment against Samsung, has filed a number of suits against three major companies - HTC, Samsung and Google's Motorola Mobility.
This being the basic approach, the number of patent applications has jumped by more than 50 percent over the last 10 years and has reached up to 540,000 in 2011. Technology leaders like Google and Microsoft received thousands of patents over the last 10 years - 2,700 and 21,000, respectively.
The world's most valuable company, Apple increased the number of patent submission by three fold over the last decade and won over 4,100 patents since 2000. "In fact, Apple modified and re-submitted its Siri patent eight times and each time, the patient office rejected the application," the article said.
Experts call for an immediate revamping of the American patent system as it in the most likelihood hurts but not helps the innovators. As Peter Cohan of Forbes rightly said, the current patent system does the opposite of its original purpose, it tends to reward unclear concept rather than specific prototypes, it diverts money from innovation, and the anticipatory patent filing by major companies crush innovators. In addition, with the ever-climbing patent applications, the overworked examiners fail to do the right job.
