Running low on patents

So, today im going to be talking about patents. I wrote this on Tabby, so please excuse any minor mistakes.

So. Patents. Let's start off by defining what they are exactly. To put it simply - when you invent something, you may tell the government, and nobody else may invent it until the patent expires. Which is for a few years.

There are rules to what's going on of course. You can't patent stuff which is ' obvious' according to some metric. Also if someone does infringe on your patent, you get to sue. Where can this go wrong eh?

So here's how it works in real life. Large companies collect patents like WMDs. Some of these patents are vague- others are just plain stupid. Doesn't matter. You go about your usual business, inevitably hitting a few competitors patents too. But nobody sues. It's like a cold war of sorts. MAD. However if a petty small company peeks it's head in, then you sue. Regardless of whether the patent is vague, or it's for something silly like floating tutorial arrows (not joking about that one). Little company can't defend itself well and dies.

Another use is for strategic bombing. Amazon holds the patent for 1 click shopping. So when a competitor used it, they sued right before the peak season.
Another example would be Oracle suing Google over Android. Anyone thinks they bought Sun to advance FOSS? Hah.

So, how to defend oneself against this government enforced corporate bullying? You can either prove that the patent shouldn't have been given in the first place - costing you legal fees. Or you can get into the game. Making the world worse for everyone.

It's undoubtedly worse with software, where anyone can have an idea- and lock down an industry which is build over improving ideas. And since not everyone at the office happens to be Einstein , crap passes through.

Also, with a large educated population and the internet, it's likely someone thought of a different implementation of the same solution. The product itself is protected by other laws. In fact, places where multiple competitors show off their own implementation is where the consumer gains the most.

So bother your nearest representative to look beyond his fat corporate bribe and remove them. Situation will only get worse until then.

The llama