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US: We need more parasites
  • One of Apple’s key weapons in its legal battle against competitors is a special type of patent that protects the visual appearance of a product. Critics have denounced these patents as a way to own “rounded rectangles” but we may have to get used to seeing a lot more of them.

    In December President Obama signed a law that will increase the term and scope of so-called “design patents.” The law could offer US designers a new way to fight knock-offs — but some fear it will strain an already over-burdened Patent Office and make America’s troubled patent system even more dysfunctional.

    Read the rest at http://gigaom.com/2012/12/27/here-come-the-design-patents-new-law-boosts-rights-in-shapes-designs/

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  • But surely only a USA company can think originally...e.g. LitePanels USA is the only one in the world who ever thought of the possibility of using LEDs for video lighting. Shit! It just plain never occurred to anyone else...

    The scarey thing is that they won in the Patent Court. Just another cynical, underhanded effort at trade protectionism. Why don't they patent arrogance...no one would argue that.

  • In the U.S., it's legal to patent human genes ("By this argument, a blood sample or even an amputated limb is not 'naturally occurring' and is therefore patentable", wrote one eminent geneticist), so patenting a rounded corner doesn't even begin to stretch the patent law.

    It won't be long before corporate America is patenting your nasal discharges....

  • +1+1 :Law rewritten by high capital.... Total agreement on excessive rights on patenting.