Few things infuriate me more than supposed experts who make statements along the lines of “patents are critical to innovation.” I have avoided stating my views widely in this forum because I didn’t want to get into a contest of one upmanship with my patent lawyer peers. However, in the last couple of weeks, several pieces of information have hit my radar screen that make this seem like the right time to go public with my views.
Let my position be very clear: we create a false dichotomy when saying “innovation is not possible without patents.” The issue is much more complex and nuanced than this: in a particular instance, patents may be critical to innovation, but they might also be only slightly important or–likely in the majority of situations–they might be wholly irrelevant to innovation. (I talk more about this in this recent interview in Innovation Management Magazine.) Unfortunately, where you stand also depends on where you sit, and sitting behind a desk writing or examining patents may color your belief that patents are the cure for America’s innovation ills. (The cynic would likely note that relying on a patent practitioner or the Commissioner of the US Patent Office for an assessment of whether we need more patents is akin to “putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen house, but I digress. . . .”)
To read the full, original article click on this link: Blogging Innovation » Inventiveness and Patents Do Not Equal Innovation
Author: Jackie Hutter
