"[...] The Committee for Economic Development, which includes senior executives from companies such as IBM, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and General Electric, published a report earlier this week recommending the use of increased openness to promote economic growth.
The report, entitled "Open Standards, Open Source, and Open Innovation" (click here for PDF), pointed out that in 2001, the CED had recommended that business methods not be patentable. It also called on the Patent Office to improve the way it searches for evidence that a patent shouldn't be granted because it isn't innovative.
'The Patent and Trademark Office should make increased use of the Internet in seeking to document 'prior art,' particularly in the area of information technology, where the Internet provides new capabilities to reach the most knowledgeable commentators. A 'Slashdot for prior art' should be the goal,' the report said, referring to the online technology-discussing community.
[...]"
The report concludes:
"[...] The benefits of openness are becoming more apparent and are likely to grow as we learn to utilize the new capabilities enabled by information and communications technologies. These benefits are challenging our conventional wisdom about innovation and the incentives needed to stimulate it. And, they are suggesting new ways of acting based on the special characteristics of the digital world, which are far different than those that developed based on what we knew of the physical world.
Years ago, the theory of the tragedy of the commons was developed in economic literature. It argued that users of a commons (such as a grazing field shared by an entire community), who had no particular or individual stake in the success of the commons, might act in such a way as to maximize their own short-term interests at the long-term expense of the commons and the community that used it. Thus, the actions of a few could harm the interests of many, and of society as a whole.
The digital world provides an opportunity to think of the commons differently. The use of the digital commons by everyone does not necessarily exclude its use by anyone. To the extent that new information and communications technologies allow more and more people to contribute their own genius, the digital world offers new opportunities from the commons and for the commons.
Openness is not an overriding moral value that must prevail in every circumstance. But, its extraordinary capability to harness the collective intelligence of our world requires us to consider its implications carefully, nurture it where possible, and avoid efforts to foreclose it without compelling reason. We should not miss the opportunity to harvest the benefits openness might bring. [...]"
More in particular, the report says:
"[...] Proposed legislation or regulations regarding intellectual property rights should be subject to the Adelphi Charter test, which establishes a presumption against the grant of any new rights, requires that proponents of new rights bear the burden of proof, and calls for rigorous analysis of the impact of the proposed changes. [...]
The Patent and Trademark Office should consider whether there are workable systems that would reward intellectual property rights holders for increasing access to the intellectual property they control.[...]"
The website defining and promoting the "Adelphi Charter" can be found here. Item 4 of this Charter says:
"Intellectual property protection must not be extended to abstract ideas, facts or data."
Well, what do they mean with abstract ideas? Doesn't the patent system since long grant exclusive rights concerning abstract ideas? Or, is a technical invention something different?
Feel free to contact PA Axel H Horns via e-mail
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Dipl.-Phys. Axel H Horns is Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney),
European Patent Attorney as well as European Trade Mark Attorney. In particular, he is Member of:
writes on zdnet.com:
