Source: The American Prospect
by Timi Iwayemi
“America’s patent system is often said to be the foundation of our innovation economy. The protections granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are supposed to give everyone with a creative spark or scientific intuition (from individual inventors to corporate R&D departments) the opportunity to take the risks today that turn into tomorrow’s transformative technologies, lifesaving medicines, and brilliant new ideas. These protections have significant social and economic impacts the world over. But the Patent Office routinely grants unnecessary patents, due in large part to the fact that more patents equals more revenue. The office is exclusively funded by fees from patent awards …. This also opens the door for profiteering law firms, known as ‘patent trolls’, to harass legitimate innovators with spurious but lucrative patent infringement lawsuits …” (09/06/23)
https://prospect.org/power/2023-09-06-revolving-door-threatens-us-patent-office/