Small inventors, beware. You’ve got to be crazy to be an entrepreneur. You’ve got to be even crazier to be an inventor. Patent reform could change things, but opportunities abound in the nascent intellectual property marketplace.
That was one of the consistent messages of the speakers at this week’s Intellectual Property Symposium at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. With no Microprocessor Forum to attend (it’s been canceled), chip experts and patent lawyers itching for a gathering went to the first-time conference (co-sponsored by TechInsights, EE Times and others) to hear about all sorts of intellectual property issues.
Here are some interesting highlights that address whether life will get better for the lone inventors trying to innovate. If this topic charges your batteries, consider this IP 101.
The nascent IP marketplace
Peter Detkin, vice chairman and founder of Intellectual Ventures, the “invention capital” business headed by former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold, opened the conference with a talk about how IP markets are evolving.
At the outset, everything he said suggested the little guys are in trouble. Small inventors account for 60 percent of patents, but big companies reap about 90 percent of patent royalties. Patent reform is being dominated by big company interests, with big tech companies squaring off with big pharma companies. But Detkin didn’t think anything would get done this year on the competing bills. Read the rest of this entry »
