GeekTimeLinux

(Via Open Source.)

This week’s patent suit against Linux should result in more attention to the issue of patent reform, so what are the prospects?

Not bad. If my two beats can find a compromise.

The House passed H.R 1908 last month, 220-175, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved an identical bill, S. 1145, in July. On the surface the changes desired by the White House for the President’s signature appear minor.  Many inventors don’t like it, but their opposition can be overcome.

Here’s the rub. The biotech industry doesn’t like the bill. The reason is that while drugs come to market with a single, powerful patent behind them, technology products can be hit by patent trolls from several sides.

Thus the risks of the two industries before the patent bar are different. While a drug-maker wants absolute protection for his patent, once it’s granted, the technology company wants to be avoid being blind-sided by 100 patent holders once products prove themselves in the market.

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