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Labor unions join effort to block US patent reform

2 September 2007 10:43 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 7 comments

Opponents of a patent reform movement in the U.S. government have decided to appeal to the Democrats in power by getting the backing of labor unions - traditional Democratic supporters.

The AFL-CIO, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and United Steelworkers have all sent letters to lawmakers opposing the two patent reform bills currently being considered in Washington. The hope is that hearing from labor union representatives will get Democratic lawmakers' attention and convince them not to pass either one into law.

However, large tech companies are exerting pressure to get some kind of patent reform. In recent years many industry leaders have practically been held hostage by company's that are essentially nothing but holding companies for patents. Extremely vague patents and lack of technical expertise among patent judges are often cited as obstacles to the introduction of new technology

Leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have targeted patent reform for passage by the end of the year.

"I think the momentum exists for this thing to move forward," said Joshua Ackil, vice president of government relations for tech trade group the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). "As folks [in Congress] dive in a little deeper on this issue, they will come around and understand how important patent reform is to the tech sector."

The importance of patents in modern video technology can't be overstated. If the US patent system were finally to receive the kind of overhaul it needs, the financial repercussions from companies not constantly looking over their shoulders to see who's waiting to sue them could result in more sanity in hardware and software pricing.

Unfortunately, like the lawmakers who must take responsibility for reforming the system, lobbying groups continue to show nearly complete ignorance of the issues involved.

Source: InfoWorld

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Discuss this article!
sciafb (Newbie) 2 September 2007 12:38
Absolutely, It makes one want to rip these lobbyists apart limb by limb. They show complete and utter disregard for any SANE thinking and practicing anything involving "good reform". They make me sick. Patent Reform MUST happen Copyright Reform MUST ALSO happen Lets go clowns, we don't need companies to compete in court rooms, we need them competing on the field, on the market. Consumers are the ones getting screwed when it comes to "No, you can't use that 'techology' because we 'patented' it, we have 'copyrights' to it, and we also don't want our competition to do something better than us with our ideas!" Its like America as a whole should sue Japan as a whole for its "changes" to our rightful ideas and making it better than we originally made it. Unbelievable... [ + quote]
Unfocused (Member) 2 September 2007 13:21
Is there just one blanket policy that covers patents, or are there different guidlelines for different areas? [ + quote]
c1c (Member) 4 September 2007 11:31
cool! [ + quote]
DADEO1 (Member) 9 September 2007 5:19
What? [ + quote]
Mez (Senior Member) 10 September 2007 7:05
sciafb, you are righton the money. Unfortunatly, the persons in power are not able to do much or do not care to do much. It is easy to put off what you really can't do and are being paid to drag your heals. That is the problem when your elected officials have no technical savvy and want to get rich quick. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 10 September 2007 14:32
What a load of political crap. [ + quote]
Steve83 (Member) 10 September 2007 21:20
The US system of government guarantees REPRESENTATIVE government - not GOOD government. If you have a bunch of idiots in charge, what does that tell you about the majority of the voting public? [ + quote]