Patents and Innovation

Association for Competitive Technology

Jonathan ZuckMarch 2006

The Patent Problem

More Quantity, Less Quality Increase in litigation “Dot Com Bomb” Fallout Still Evident

BacklogBad name for “software”

3 Myths

vs

vs

Innovators Producers

Innovation Business

Risk capital Market creation Returns from Licensing not Labor

Small Innovators

Venture Capital Partnerships with larger firms

Need leverageNeed business model flexibility

No “net” – Returns are “do or die”

IP to the Small Innovator

IP Makes me Attractive IP Makes me Safe IP Makes me Profitable

Innovators & Producers

Innovation Production

Research Applied App Dev App Emulation Duplication

Free Software

What People Are Saying

Mechanical Pharmaceutical Software Driven Software

Tangibility of ImplementationProgress Bar

Shopping Cart

Qua

lity

New

Technical Contribution

Non-Obvious

Compression, Encryption, Facial & Voice Recognition, Clustering

Blueprints Recipe Schematic Spec

Patent Reform

SMEs Need Predictability and Accessibility Improved Pre-grant Process

Better searching Better examination - $$ More Comprehensive “prior art”

Improved Post-grant Process Opposition Process Litigation and Court Reform

Questions

What is software?

What is innovative?