Intellectual property Toolkit

Story: Microsoft may become 'major opponent of patents'

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I found "Microsoft may become 'major opponent of patents'" interesting but think it has missed many important points.

Like most big companies Microsoft loves their own intellectual property but finds that other's intellectual property is even more enticing and valuable. This is because the majority of important inventions come from individual and small business inventors.

And like most big companies Microsoft was drunk with power and they have been found to have taken great liberties with real inventor's property and many of us think that is why they have forty or so pending infringement cases at any given time.

Up until recently Microsoft had a scorched earth policy of not settling, and in many cases this worked because they could bankrupt inventors whose property they coveted. But then the lost a big one, and with that loss came the realization that in their arrogance they had incurred some huge liabilities which I estimate to be between twenty billion and perhaps as great as two-hundred billion depending on juries reaction to an ever decreasing reputation.

So today big corporate bullies are whining about litigation which they brought on themselves. They try to paint their victims as abusers and use slurs like "troll" to describe those who help those who have been victimized get justice.

The public has a greater stake in these issues than inventors. When inventors become entrepreneurs and launch businesses they create tax base and jobs for their communities. When those inventors are cheated by a big corporate bully the community loses more than the inventor, for all the benefits of the invention get shipped to some low wage country. Even worse is that other inventions which that inventor might have made die with their dreams when they are taken to the cleaners as so many allege that Microsoft has done to them.

remember that if people in developed countries are to maintain their standard of living that it must be through innovation for we cannot compete based on wages.

Ronald J Riley, President
Professional Inventors Alliance
www.PIAUSA.org
RJR"at"PIAUSA.org
Change "at" to @"
RJR Direct # (202) 318-1595

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