WEBVTT - The Patent Wars 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:17.560 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello, everyone, 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:20.480 welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette and 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.160 I am an editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:25.880 Sitting across from me, as he typically does unless he 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:28.360 happens to be standing at the time, is senior writer 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:32.760 Jonathan Strickland. I suited Ben Affleck. Do I even need 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:38.280 a reason? Identify the source of the quote and you 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.120 get Okay, you don't get anything, but you know, feel 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.680 free to write in Yes, it's patently absurd to suggest 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:47.959 you would get something. See what I did there. Yeah, 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.120 we're gonna talk about the patent wars today and actually this, uh, 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.320 this topic comes to us courtesy of a little listener mail. 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.880 This listener mail come from Jim, and Jim says, I 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.680 know you did some podcasts on i P that's intellectual 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.080 property for everyone out there, but I don't remember if 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.360 you did one on patents exclusively. If not, you may 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.240 want to consider one. I'm raring this because of the 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:17.120 past weeks this American Life on NPR, when patents attack 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.440 it's about how patent troll companies that buy up patents 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:23.559 with broad software coverage such as this patent covers real 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.680 time backup of files, and then they sue any software 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:31.000 company large or small that maybe doing backups. You wouldn't 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:33.120 want to retell the whole story, but the idea of 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.800 patentrolling could be a part of the describing patents were 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:37.680 you to do a podcast on. So, yeah, we thought 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.080 we'd talked a bit about patents, and before we really 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:42.840 jump into it, I wanted to point out that at 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.560 how stuff works dot com we have a great article 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.600 on how patents work and it really breaks down what 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.480 patents are and and their purpose. And we're gonna kind 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.280 of cover some of that first, I think, because that's 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:56.880 important to understand before we go on into you know, 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:00.720 patent trolls and nonpracticing, into into ease and that kind 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:06.040 of thing. So, Chris, are you comfortable in telling everybody 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:09.120 what a patent is? Of course, patents come off of 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:14.240 the idea of, uh, the ability for someone to protect 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:18.600 their work. It's sort of similar in some ways to copyright, um, 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.679 but you know, it depends on what it is. Now, 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.560 if you have a if you've written a novel. You 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:27.720 can't patent that, but you can't copyright it. And that's 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:29.880 a way to protect your work so that you can 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.520 sell it and make some money off of it and 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.919 reap the rewards with that. Patents apply to those people 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.800 who are and I always think of them as inventors, 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.520 but it's not necessarily inventors. It could be engineers or 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.280 other people. Um. In this case, we'll be talking a 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.320 lot about software patents, which, by the way, before we 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.799 even jump into it any further, I should point out 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.200 there is no such thing as a software patent as 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.880 an it's not a separate thing. A software patent is 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.080 a patent. It's just that it's a patent that and 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.080 it covers software. But there's no distinction between a software 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:05.320 patent and any other type. No, no, no, it's not 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.520 shorthand there are people who will get into this. There 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:11.320 are people who believe that software should not be allowed 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:13.760 to be patent, should not be you know, fall into 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:18.079 that category. But that patent, I'm going to be doing 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.160 that too. Yeah, it's it's okay. Yeah. Um, so no, 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.280 a patented piper picked a peck up patents, yeah, pickled 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:29.440 patents perhaps, Um, so yeah, patent basically is is a protection. 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:35.640 It's a it's a registry for a particular type of thing. Um, 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.280 you have a better mousetrap. Perhaps you register with a 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.800 patent office. Yes, and in the United States that the 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.520 United States Patent Office. Yes. Yes, And basically somebody reviews 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.040 your application in which you describe what it is, how 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:51.960 it works, what the parts are, how you know all 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.120 these things. Um, and there's some really fascinating in the 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:59.080 patent files. You can look at all these different diagrams 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:01.720 for different inventions. Really kind of cool. But anyway, Um, 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:04.560 once a a someone has reviewed that and says, yes, 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.280 this does not work like the other ones before, it 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:12.000 is completely the criteria that is necessary to have a patent. Yes. 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.400 Then then it can be patented and on and that 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.880 is on file as part of the public record. And 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:21.800 if someone makes something that looks just like the one 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.800 that you invented and works the same way and tries 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.279 to make money off of it, you can see their 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.559 pantsil right, or you can license the patent to someone 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:32.360 else so that they can make something that's not the 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.880 way people do it is how some people do it. 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.440 It's yeah, Uh, software patents in particular have an issue 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.039 with this, but we'll we'll get into that. That's that's 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:43.000 the idea is that you can protect your work so 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:45.760 that you may make money off of it, and other 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.280 people cannot take your idea and make money off of 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.720 it without your permission. Exactly. So, if I were to 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:56.200 patent a an invention and Chris wanted to be able 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:00.360 to build that invention, we might be come to an agreement, 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.360 a licensing agreement, where he can use my idea and 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.320 put it into reality. Because here's here's another thing about patents. 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.760 You might come up with a brilliant idea brilliant invention. 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.560 I've all the time, and so you come up with 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.080 a brilliant invention, but you lack the resources to make 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.240 that invention. You just you you know how to do it. 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:22.680 You've got all the ideas in place, but you don't 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:26.440 have the infrastructure to build this thing. Sad but true. 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:30.120 I don't have a manufacturing facility in my backyard, right. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.839 So in that case, you would perhaps patent your invention 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.320 or submit it to the patent office for for approval, 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:43.000 and then once you've got approval, that's your ticket to 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:47.640 getting that that idea licensed by a company or organization 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.440 that has the capacity to put it into reality. Right, 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:54.719 So you license the idea to widget coho goes off 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:58.160 and makes them and packages them, and in return, you 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.520 get a cut of the money that they make off 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.320 of it because they hold a license for your patent. 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:05.920 Actually that that works very similar to the way it 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:09.800 works for writers and musicians who license their work to 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:14.240 a publisher and then they get part of the So 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.839 I mean they're not completely dissiminar And what's also interesting 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.760 is that you can't you don't just have the option 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:24.800 to license patents. You can actually sell a patent. Yes 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:28.040 you can, because a patent is essentially property. Yes you know, 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:31.680 it's intellectual property, intellectual property, and just like any other property, 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:33.839 you have the right to dispose of it as you wish. 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.320 So you can sell that patent to a company. If 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.880 a company wants to make a certain type of product 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.440 and you hold the patent that is, or a patent 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:47.520 that is instrumental in that product getting made, that company 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:49.680 might approach you and say, hey, if we drop a 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:52.520 truckload of cash at your front door, will you sell 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.080 us this patent? And you can choose to sell it, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.600 or you can choose to hold onto it truckload of 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:03.200 So so there are companies out there that are just 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:05.960 in the business of buying and selling patents. That's what 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.120 they do. It's almost like it's almost like trading stocks 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:13.480 or some other or real estate. Really it's it's trading 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:17.120 property and that's their main purpose. And that's also led 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:22.280 to some sticky situations and some name calling in various industries, 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:26.760 the technology industry being a good example, because clearly technology 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.400 it's all about innovation and invention. Yep, you know. And 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:33.640 I actually thought of a of a real life example 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.360 of these two models and they're actually uh in well, 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.840 their their photos are in the room with us because 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.240 Edison tried to He had all these inventions and he 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:48.800 actually worked on building a company which is uh, you know, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.400 there was Edison General Electric. There version of General Electric 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.600 today is not exactly anywhere. It's complicated. We'll have to 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:57.920 do an episode on Edison at some point. Yeah, but 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.240 um yeah, I mean he he had a company that 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.040 you know, he built his company to make his stuff 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.080 essentially and to wire people's homes and and do that. 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:10.880 Um where Tesla actually worked with Westinghouse. Westinghouse licensed his 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:14.440 patents and together they sort of I mean it was 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:18.320 like Tesla was the inventor in Westinghouse was the industrialist 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.880 who built on that work, but he licensed those those 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.760 patents from Tesla, and there was I mean, there was 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:29.080 some controversy with Tesla and patents. Tesla held some patents 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:31.960 that he he was issued the patents by the United 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.720 States Patent Office and then later the Patent Office overturned 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:40.839 that decision and revoked his patents. Yeah, and so right, 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.520 and so there's a lot of discussion about how the 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:49.280 Patent Office isn't it's it's more than just a regulatory office. 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:54.079 There's a political element that runs through this as well. Um, 0:08:54.559 --> 0:09:00.439 so yeah, it's uh, it's complicated. Now, let's talk a 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.720 little bit about what you have to prove in order 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:07.480 to to have a patent, have your your invention considered 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.439 for a patent, to get patent approval. In order for 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:12.600 your for you to get a patent, your invention needs 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:17.599 to be sufficiently novel m. That means it has to 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.240 be unlike other things that came before it enough to 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.760 justify a patent. Now, we should also say a lot 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:28.079 of this is subjective. You know, it's That's another part 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.520 of patents that's a little tricky is that you know 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:34.559 that there aren't any there's no real quantifiable measurement for 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:38.160 how novels something like this is seven percent novel. Therefore 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:42.400 it meets our threshold. Um, that's not really possible. Yeah, Basically, 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.120 someone is looking at these patents. It's a human and 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.280 humans are known to be subjective. And also the you know, 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:53.319 it's depending on how complex this invention is. Uh, the 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:59.120 person who's reviewing the patent may have some difficulty deciding 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.199 how novel it is compared to something else, if especially 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.120 depending on the language that's being used. Now, another thing 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.920 that a patent that the invention must be is non 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:13.839 obvious to someone. Uh, someone who's knowledgeable in the art, 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.720 is the way we say it. So in other words, 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:22.679 you can't patent an invention or a process that is 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:28.200 patently obvious. You can't do something that you couldn't patent, 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.679 like a lever, and you're patenting the process of pulling 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:35.320 the lever, Well, that's obvious. You can't do that. Um. 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.000 And this this is a tough concept as well, and 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:41.000 it's one that we see brought up in courts a 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:45.720 lot where the the one side will accuse another side 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.080 of you know, let's say that Company A is suing 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.760 Company B for patent infringement, and Company B is contesting 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:53.560 the patents in the first place, saying that they are 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:58.199 patenting obvious procedures, and it's it can be really difficult 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.120 to prove whether or not something is obvious, because if 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:05.120 that particular procedure didn't exist before Company A patent did it, 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:08.760 then there's an argument there that, hey, the reason why 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:10.880 it didn't exist before is because it wasn't obvious. It's 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:15.160 obvious now because we invented it, you know, And that's 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:19.439 a circular argument thing. I blame the boogie woogie bogle 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:22.719 boy of Company B. But I mean, for example, to 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.520 swiped unlock, that's a good one to say swiped to unlock, 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.880 which is I believe Apple has that patent for swiping 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:33.640 to unlock on a on a touch screen device like 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:37.920 a smartphone or a tablet. Uh. There have been companies 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.240 and lawyers who have argued that swiped unlock is not 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.760 it doesn't meet the criteria of being non obvious. But 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.120 then Apple would say, well, where was it before? Then 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.320 who if if it was? If it if it was obvious, 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.920 then why were we the first to do it? Um 0:11:55.200 --> 0:12:00.280 at least that that's that's oversimplifying the argument by many 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:04.040 leaps and bounds, but essentially that's what they're saying, Yeah, 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.679 I did. Working on issues like this makes me glad 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.959 that I am not one of the people who has 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:14.199 to decide whether patents get approved or not, because it 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.719 in some cases, I imagine that pardon my use of 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.080 this word in the context, it's not the same, uh. 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:27.040 I think for some inventions or concepts, it would be 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:32.640 more obvious that this is something that is completely different 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.520 than other things, and then just having to educate yourself 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:39.000 about what goes on with this particular thing or the 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.839 software or the functionality. I'm glad I don't have to 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:43.839 make those decisions. See here at how Stuff Works. We 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.000 write about how stuff works, But if you were to 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:50.560 be the ideal patent regulator, you'd have to know how 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:54.240 everything works, because you would have to know if the 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.600 invention that's coming towards you, if it's just replicating something 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.920 that's already out there you know, or or you would 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.880 look at and say that truly is novel, hasn't happened before. 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.560 So other criteria that the invention must meet. Now we've 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:08.920 said it has to be new, it has to be 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.360 non obvious. It also has to be useful. That the 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.880 invention has to have a use. It means that it 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.199 serves some sort of purpose and it actually works. You 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:22.439 can't patent something that does not work, that can't be 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.520 demonstrated to work. You also, you cannot patent any sort 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:29.880 of um element that occurs in nature, like you couldn't 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:34.800 patent copper. It has to be man made. And then uh, 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:40.520 you have to you can't use unproven ideas two in 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:44.800 your patent. So anything that is contested by science, anything 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.400 that that isn't proven by science theoret that you should 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.440 not be able to get a patent on. So, for example, 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:55.040 a perpetual motion machine should in theory not get a 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:59.360 patent because science, uh tells us that such a thing 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.679 is not possible, even though we still have people who 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:07.920 pursue the dream of creating a perpetual motion machine. Leonardo 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.480 da Vinci himself tried to do this with a weighted 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:12.559 wheel and it didn't work out for him. And he 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.439 actually said back that back in the day, which I 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:19.720 think was a Thursday, that perpetual motion was an impossibility. Uh. 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.320 And ever since we've been you know, still trying to 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.160 do it, no one, no one has proven him wrong, 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:29.080 by the way. Uh. So these are the criteria that 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.360 your invention must meet in order to get a patent, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.880 and it can take years from the time you apply 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.080 for a patent to the time you're issued a patent. 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.960 And UH that raises the question, Okay, well what happens 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:43.280 during that that span. What if someone else comes up 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:46.800 with an invention that uses your idea and you haven't 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:50.320 received a patent yet. Uh, that can get tricky. Sometimes 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:54.240 when you get the patent, you can then pursue legal 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.920 threats against whomever is using that that particular idea within 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.720 an invention. Um. Oh. And also if there is something 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:05.720 called prior art, then you may not be able to 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.200 get a patent. And prior art just means that there's 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.160 an example of the idea you have, the invention you 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:15.680 have that already exists out in the wild and it 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.120 there's you know, it has to have existed for a 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:20.560 while and it has to have been publicized for it too. 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:25.160 For this account, So what you're saying is that if 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:29.320 there were, um, someone who filed for a patent, and 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:31.840 somebody comes along and says, no, I came up with 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:36.480 that idea two months before before you did, and they 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:41.120 had sketched it out on a napkin and published it somewhere, 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.360 were published maybe, and it would have to be more 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:46.280 than two months. I think. I think the minimum is 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.120 at least a year. But let's say that Let's say 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.640 that that I patent an invention, and or I tried 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:56.400 a patent and invention, but it's discovered that there was 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:01.040 a magazine article that had a prototype divid ice uh 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:07.240 detailed in that magazine, and that prototype device closely resembles 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:11.480 my patent, the the application, the invention that I'm applying 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.720 for a patent. The two things are very similar. That 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.360 would could be an example of prior art. And if 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.320 I were to try and get a patent, then someone 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:24.720 could prove that this other device essentially does the same 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:29.440 thing that my idea does, my patent might be invalid. 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:34.040 So do you happen to know just can you guess 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.760 who in human history holds the most patents in at 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:42.960 least in the United States? M hmm, it's not Steve Jobs. 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:47.760 No older, go go further back I think a lot 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:51.440 of people would would be sitting here going no Edison. 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:57.120 Edison would be who I would guess. Yes, one patents, Yeah, 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:01.400 second place goes to someone else. So tell me if 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.000 you can tell me who is in second place, and 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:05.920 I'll give you a hint. It can be found in 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.520 how patents work. But if you can let me know, 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.760 that'd be awesome because it proves that you're actually paying 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.600 attention and not just falling asleep to text stuff. We 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:17.760 love you guys, by the way. We hope you have 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:23.119 pleasant dreams anyway. Yeah, but you, however, are not allowed 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.119 to go back to sleep. So now we've covered the 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:29.000 basics of what a patent is, what it does, and 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:33.080 why you would want one, and and patents secure your uh, 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.520 your rights to that idea for a limited amount of time. 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.720 Right you You can't hold the idea, Yeah, you don't 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.119 hold a patent in perpetuity. It doesn't last forever. It 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.200 will last for a certain number of years, and it 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:47.040 all depends on where you live in the world. Like 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:50.720 the different patent laws are have different amounts of time 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:55.160 where your patent is protected um and ideally during that time, 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.280 no one would be able to infringe upon your patent 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:01.080 without the the threat of a loss. Not keep in mind, 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.840 a patent doesn't automatically protect you from someone infringing on 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.639 your idea. The patent just gives you a recourse if 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.679 someone does infringe on your idea. And patent lawsuits are 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:16.119 really expensive. So if you are an independent inventor and 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:19.200 you do not license your idea out, and you don't 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:21.800 have a lot of resources at your disposal, and someone 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.520 starts to infringe upon your idea, you you might be 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:27.639 at luck because you might not have the money to 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:32.840 pursue a lawsuit. And uh, some whould argue, well, this 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.080 helps license out ideas and it means that those ideas 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:40.840 will actually propagate through society because you know, you've got 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.560 an incentive to share your idea. Now you're sharing it 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.680 for money, You're you're licensing it, and it means that, 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.840 uh that we all benefit as a result because this 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.000 idea gets actually put into use as opposed to let's 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.000 say I never patent my idea. Let's say I never 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:58.800 share my idea, Well, then no one benefits from it. 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.119 That so the idea the patent office is really to 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.639 encourage people to share their ideas. It's just that it 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.480 hasn't always worked out that way, and that's what leads 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:11.000 us to the patent wars. Yeah, and this has come 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:16.080 up a lot recently, especially with UM Google's acquisition of 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:21.160 Motorola and the battles going on between Apple and HTC 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:26.560 and Microsoft and some of the others. And We've had 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.160 several people mentioned this to us, and I've seen comments 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:35.800 on on our Facebook page um about one company or 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:41.480 another being a brat. Basically, this isn't, by any stretch 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:45.560 of the imagination, something that just started happening. No, No, 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:50.359 it's it's getting a lot more publicity now because the 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:55.399 companies are that are involved are big consumer companies in 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:59.199 one way or another. They may not directly create consumer products, 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:01.399 because you would say that, all right, well, Google doesn't 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:06.840 yet make anything specific for consumers, really, but they do 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.159 provide the operating system that gets used in a lot 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:11.760 of consumer products, so you would say, well, this is 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.320 still kind of a consumer issue that that's probably why 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:16.680 the publicity is so big. But these sort of things 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.240 have been going on in behind the scenes for for decades. 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:22.440 It's just that now it's really coming to a head 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.960 as companies fight over each other to try and and 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:29.440 buy up other companies just not just too, but primarily 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.280 to get hold of the patent portfolio that that company 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:36.919 might have. And the reason to get patent port portfolios 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:41.240 there they're too. Two main reasons that a a company 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:44.080 that's a practicing entity might want to get hold of 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:48.080 a patent portfolio. The main one is defense, which is 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:52.119 you get as many patents as you can so that 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.480 if another company comes after you claiming that you're infringing 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:59.520 upon their intellectual property, you can return fire and say, well, 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:02.520 this is the intellectual property we own and you are 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:07.239 in turn infringing upon that. And hopefully what happens as 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.960 a result of this is the two companies, through arbitration 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:15.120 and probably litigation, come to an agreement where both sides say, 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:20.119 all right, I'm totally stealing ideas A through G and 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.880 you're totally stealing ideas H through our and we will 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:29.879 exchange this amount of money and then say we're all cool. Truce. Right. 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:32.320 And if you if now, if you have one major 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:34.520 company that doesn't hold a lot of patents and another 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:37.800 company that does hold patents, then the what's going to 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:40.000 happen is you just the company that holds a lot 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:42.800 of patents, it's going to sue the other major company 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:46.040 for money, and you don't. If you don't have your 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:49.720 own large patent portfolio to fall back on. As a 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:53.760 sort of a mutually assured destruction kind of approach, you 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:57.200 you get run over. You know, you you essentially unless 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:00.880 the the courts decide otherwise, who essentially have to cough 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:03.440 up money and you may or may not have to 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:08.960 even discontinue the production of certain products. Yep. And so 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:12.240 that's kind of why we see these big companies scooping 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.560 up uh, smaller companies in order to get patents. Sometimes 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:18.080 it's for protection. Sometimes it's with an eye to go 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:21.480 after a competitor and perhaps put that competitor in a 0:22:21.920 --> 0:22:26.159 a bad position. It's it's almost anti competitive when you 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:29.159 get down to it. And as a result, you have 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:31.160 a lot of people saying, well, this is really stifling 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:35.399 innovation because by going after another company and saying that 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:38.480 you can't make any of this because this part of 0:22:38.520 --> 0:22:43.080 it infringes upon our patents. Uh, you you're taking away 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:46.639 things that are actually valuable in the marketplace. And it 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:48.639 may very well be true that let's say that we 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:51.400 have an operating system, that's a good one to go with. Okay, 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:53.560 we're going to get into the software patents anyway. So 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:56.600 you have an operating system where one aspect of that 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:00.960 operating system appears to infringe upon a patent. Well, depending 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:04.159 on how the lawsuit is worded and the decision of 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:07.560 the courts, that operating system might end up having to 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:11.840 be completely scrapped or rewritten or taken off the market, 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:14.600 which means you lose everything. You don't just lose that 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.680 one element that was infringing upon the patent, you lose 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:20.960 all the other elements of that operating system. So you're 0:23:21.040 --> 0:23:25.560 losing out on innovation. This is why we're getting a 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:28.719 lot of criticism directed at these patent wars. And another 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:34.320