Weakening intellectual property laws due to negative policy rhetoric, hyperbolic internet commentary, and even extensive lobbying by firms who choose to infringe patents because they don’t want to pay the licenses offered to them by patent licensing firms is irresponsible.
Adam Mossoff
Mr. Mossoff is a professor of law at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He is a Visiting Intellectual Property Fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, a Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University, and a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute.
His scholarship has been relied on by the Supreme Court, by federal courts, and by federal agencies, and he has been invited numerous times to testify before the Senate and the House of Representatives on proposed intellectual property legislation.
Visit his website at adammossoff.com.
The Broken Reporting Causing the “Broken Patent System” Hokum
The real problem with this “broken reporting” by Mr. Bilton and his ilk is that it is feeding a growing anti-patent frenzy among commentators, academics, and the public, who seem to think that your smart phones, tablets and other technological marvels just don’t exist because of a so-called “broken patent system” that has stymied software and other high-tech innovation at every turn.
ITC Patent Cases Dramatically Drop, or Another Patent Litigation Myth Bites the Dust
The claim that there is a “patent litigation explosion” is a myth, but there’s a related patent litigation myth that has proven cantankerously resilient in the patent policy debates — there’s an “explosion” of patent-owners racing to the International Trade Commission (ITC) who are obtaining exclusion orders against infringers.
Today’s Software Patents Look a Lot Like Early Pharma Patents
The recent New York Times article on the high-tech industry argues that software patents and the current “smart phone war” are a disaster for innovation, and it backs this with quotes and cites from a horde of academics and judges, like Judge Richard Posner, that...
Some Historical Perspective on Today’s High-Tech Patent Wars
The New York Times set hearts aflutter in the IP world yesterday with its hit piece on patents in the high-tech industry.
The “Patent Litigation Explosion” Canard
The historical patent litigation rates are significant because they also include the same “patent wars” that we are experiencing with the “smart phone war.”
Today’s Software Patents Look a Lot Like Early Pharma Patents
It’s time to bring objectivity and a historical-based perspective to public policy discussions about software patents and the role of property rights in innovation.
America’s Accommodation of Evil
In perusing through a recently published book on American politics, the following statement caught my eye: "[The spectre] our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face is that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and appeasement does not give you a choice...
A Declaration of War Against Terrorism
On December 7, 1941, America was the target of an unprovoked, unmitigated and unjustified attack that left thousands dead and many more wounded. Americans understood the meaning of this day of infamy and responded appropriately--the sleeping giant was awakened. War...
The Antitrust Laws Require the Government To Initiate Force Against Innocent Citizens
The antitrust laws are thus a palpably unjust legal doctrine, and respect for individual rights demands that the District Court’s judgment against Microsoft be reversed and the antitrust laws held invalid and unconstitutional.
Al Gore’s “Will of the People” is a Smokescreen For Overthrowing The Rule of Law
The Gore campaign has maintained a constant theme for the past week or so: it wants the "will of the people" to prevail, and thus Gore wants all the votes counted (and recounted and recounted and recounted). Invocations of the "will of the people" is a dubious...
The Roots of the Microsoft Antitrust Case: An Analysis of Judge Jackson’s Finding of Fictions Part 4
The morality of altruism or self-sacrifice is often presented as a form of benevolence, as if it simply means being nice to other people. But the actual meaning of this philosophy is a hatred of success. Under this morality, anyone who achieves some extraordinary...
The Roots of the Microsoft Antitrust Case: An Analysis of Judge Jackson’s Finding of Fictions Part 3
Judge Jackson's visceral antagonism to business is also revealed by his condemnation of Microsoft for winning the browser battle against Netscape when "superior quality was not responsible for the dramatic rise [in] Internet Explorer's usage share." (Paragraph 375)...
The Roots of the Microsoft Antitrust Case: An Analysis of Judge Jackson’s Finding of Fictions – Part 2
Microsoft's achievements should be held up as a model of how to create and maintain a highly productive, innovative company. Yet Judge Jackson is unable to view any of these facts in a positive light. While Judge Jackson recognizes many of the concrete facts that...
The Roots of the Microsoft Antitrust Case: An Analysis of Judge Jackson’s Finding of Fiction – Part 1
United States District Court Judge Thomas P. Jackson is crystal clear in his recent "findings of fact": Microsoft is marked for destruction. But why does Judge Jackson want to punish one of the most successful corporations in American history? Because Bill Gates...
Gun Control and The Right to Self-Defense
The gun control debate should be addressed as a debate over individual rights.
Appeasing Dictatorship: From Munich to Hong Kong
With little regard for this recent history, Britain is appeasing dictatorship once again. On July 1, 1997, Britain will officially give back political authority over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China.
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