Posts by Oh Jesus

Wow

I am really getting a kick out of all the amateur legal scholars on here who think that this *contract law* decision somehow involves tort law or corporate malfeasance. Good job!

I can't believe it

Everyone seems to be hopping on the 'patent trolls are teh suxors' bandwagon. Frankly, "Anyone can think up a brilliant idea" is now officially the most ignorant thing I have ever seen on El Reg, followed closely in second place by "He spent $100m of his cash developing the ideas, and now expects payment for that work. But real businesses get paid by customers, not lawsuits, and Allen should be no different". I was unaware that the whole anti-patent troll movement had moved all the way into 'burn the intellectual property system down!' territory.

Say I'm just some schmuck who invents some amazing new whirligig. Should I be able to license the idea to a company with the resources to produce and market it, or is the benefit of patents reserved for those who already have enough capital to produce a product for market on their own? Are we just looking to put some sort of ceiling on how much money you have in the bank before you are allowed to monetize ideas? So, Paul Allen doesn't get to enforce his IP because he has enough money already, and equity is only for the poor. Or maybe it's more of a floor, seeing as only those with the means to produce and market can afford to make anything off of their inventions.

Do you people actually think about these things before you say them? It's one thing to attack the patents themselves, but it looks like everyone here agrees that Paul Allen shouldn't get the benefit of his patents because he has too much money already. So much for capitalism, I guess.