- From: Dave Brasington <dbrasington@spidertek.com>
- Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 13:01:59 -0400
- To: <www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org>
All, "Patents" and "open standards" provide complementary but fundamentally different benefits to society. Both are the product of intellectual investments. Those who invest their intellectual capital in the creation of "open standards" do so for the purpose of creating a community in which they think they can thrive. The reward for participation and contribution is obtained later by doing business on an equal footing in the community that is created. The reward for an investment that results in a patent is created by depriving others of the right to use the work product, thus creating an artificial "shortage". Both mechanisms provide an incentive for invention that benefits the community. The mechanics are fundamentally at odds with one another, and MUST NOT be mixed or confused. Participants in an open standards processes understand the benefits and the risks of participation. The proposal is a risky and unnecessary attempt to increase the potential rewards for participants. If participants are not on an equal footing, the entire process is in jeopardy and the future of open standards will be a quagmire. If the proposal is adopted, then large, well established, well capitalized and litigious participants will have an inherent advantage against startups and smaller or financially weaker participants. Litigation is a poor arbiter of right and wrong. The world will be rife with legalized blackmail, extortion and even "greenmail" perpetrated by the strong against the week. This is a bad idea. David Brasington
Received on Tuesday, 2 October 2001 13:01:19 UTC