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BLOG@IP::JURPatent Attorney Axel H Horns' Blog on Intellectual Property Law.
Friday, December 08, 2006Mr. Hintjens, FFII: Patent System to Vanish into thin Air within Ten Years if Certain Conditions not Met.As Dr. Krempl reports in Heise Newsticker [in German only, sorry], Mr. Pieter Hintjens, President FFII, has announced at the occasion of his presentation at the IP Summit that he expects the patent system to vanish into thin air within ten years if the proponents of the present system of protection to not undertake, inter alia, to stop their polemics, solve conflicts of interests within their own ranks and return to the basics of the incentive procedures of Intellectual Property rights. So, we are all lucky, noticing that at least for now Mr. Hintjens is President of FFII and not of any European state. Technorati Tags: Patents[UPDATE-0 2006-12-10] Perhaps this posting provides a more precise description of Mr. Hintjens' statement than Dr. Krempl's report.[UPDATE-1 2006-12-10] There is an interesting report on the IP Summit by Mr. Joff Wild of IAM. Just two quotes:"[...] Someone else to speak at the event was Pieter Hintjens, the president of the FFII. Having heard him and spoken with him, I still do not agree with what he says. I think he ignores much of what has happened in countries such as the US when he makes his arguments, his view of SMEs is too narrow when he underplays their need for patent protection and I am not sure he completely understands what patents can and cannot do. However, Hintjens is definitely not a raving anti-capitalist and he is not anti-IP in general. He has a problem with the patent system, or what he perceives to be the patent system, mainly because he thinks it harms businessmen - for that is what he is - such as him. He is clever, articulate and holds his beliefs sincerely. As such, he cannot be dismissed. He makes his points powerfully and one of them is that groups such as the FFII have a great deal of support, and are very well organised.And, in the context of lack of progress towards EPLA / London Agreement: "[...] From conversations I had with a few in-house people in Brussels, I am not sure how long they are going to be happy giving work to attorneys who are resisting changes that companies believe will be of significant benefit. After all, is it wise to employ someone who you believe does not have your best interests at heart? [...]"Well, those times where patent attorneys could even dare to think of defining themselves as some sort of notabilities appear to be definitively over.
It might be worth noting that the question "can the patent system survive" was raised by a previous speaker at the IPSummit (from Thaddeus Burns of GE, if my memory is correct), and I simply picked up this question, which seemed utterly reasonable and relevant. As for "vanishing into thin air", these words come from your own imagination. If you want to know what I think will happen if my "conditions" are not met (you make me seem like a terrorist, holding the patent system to hostage, when I'm innocently making an analysis of the problem and a prescription for curing it) is this: - a breakdown in the examination process - increasing litigation, based on less and less clear patent boundaries - the loss of political credibility of the patent industry (based on its inability to fix its own problems) - growing public perception of the patent industry as "evil" (read Michael Crichton’s latest novel, Next) - demand for politicians to "fix things" All these are already happening. A good guide to the future is "take the present and imagine it worse". So the most likely scenario is growing demand for a political fix, driven by harsh economics and angry public and business opinion.
@Pieter Hintjens: Thank you for clarification. "vanish into thin air" was understood to be a proper translation within the context of Dr. Krempl's language "In zehn Jahren werde es das Patentsystem nicht mehr geben, [...]"
Thanks for linking to my full article, and indeed the original German did picture the patent system vanishing like smoke, not what I'd suggested. I'm interested to learn to what extent you agree or disagree with my diagnosis and proposals.  Post a Comment
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