Comment on EA opens up more patents for increasing Accessibility in gaming
SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 6 months agoThe better alternative would be to not patent it in the first place.
…leaving the idea unclaimed for someone else to patent instead? Strange take.
The patent system is far from perfect, but patents themselves are necessary. EA had an idea, they had the right to patent it. They have the right to keep the patent closed, instead they opted to open it.
You can’t patent something that already exists.
If the idea already existed EA wouldn’t have been issued the patent. That’s part of the process of obtaining the patent.
Point is moot because the patent was issued.
My point is if they created something without patenting it, it is no longer possible for anyone to patent it.
these things often do not exist yet, hence the patent
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Then a patent troll steals it and makes things worse for everyone.
Patenting something then immediately opening it up is by far the best option.
Poayjay@lemmy.world 6 months ago
That’s literally not a thing. Once something is publicly disclosed it can’t be patented (unless it is by the discloser during the one year grace period). You can take someone else’s invention and patent it. If someone does you can invalidate their patent without even a lawyer. If you want something you invent to be free for everyone the best thing you can do is get it out into the world and not patent it.
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world 6 months ago
You’re not supposed to. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
Nobody wants to spend the court costs to get a patent troll stripped of their bad patent. And for a patent troll you’re going to need a lawyer, they’re going to fight tooth and nail to keep it since that’s their source of income.
Poayjay@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Once again, this is not true. They do what is called a prior art search as part of issuing a patent. They look worldwide for anything that could be considered your invention before your filing date before issuing a patent. Even after a patent is issued, if prior art is presented to the patent office they can rescind the patent. It’s a form and like $100. You don’t need a lawyer to bring prior art to the patent office’s attention. The legal battle will be between the patent office and the patent troll if they are trying to contest the prior art.
Perroboc@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Oh boy are you wrong. Check out the patents to polio vaccines, or Volvos three point seatbelt.
Poayjay@lemmy.world 6 months ago
What? There was no polio vaccine patent. The inventor literally did exactly what I suggested. He made his work freely available so that it could not be patented. Volvo made a business decision to make their patent freely usable and we are still talking about it. Their brand has been permanently associated with safety because of it.