InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[olddog967]

mickey: This is one time that I agree with you when you say "their is something bad wrong with the system". However, I disagree with your simplistic approach that "The patent should speak for itself and if it performs as designed the patent office should be able to verify it and that should end it." With millions, and even billions, at issue in patent disputes, things can get extremely complicated.

To illustrate how complicated things can get you should look at the USPTO's "Examination Guidelines for Determining Obviousness Under 35 U.S.C. 103 [R-08.2017]"

https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2141.html

As can be seen by the listing on the left side of the site this is only one of many USPTO regulations regarding prior art and obviousness.

Do you remember in one of the Nokia cases where they claimed prior art based on some obscure publication that they found in a library in some small town in Austria or Germany?