mschere, thanks for posting the Wireless Week article. Nice to see something written about InterDigital that does not have negative spin for a change.
Still hoping that one of these days we will see some journalists begin to wake up and realize that patents do not grow on trees. Somebody has to do something very difficult, and they have to do it before anybody else figures out how to do it, before anything can be "patented".
Have been attempting(and failing!) to make that point with various members of the media for awhile now. Sent the following "feedback" to the Wireless Week editor this morning;
................................................................................................
Re - July 15 Wireless Week article by Sue Marek
"InterDigital: From Patents to Products"
Have watched in amazement as journalists writing for less knowledgeable
publications mis-characterized the nature of "patents", but felt moved to
comment when I saw the same naive treatment in one of your recent articles.
What are patents?, and how does one go about obtaining some with value? Why
do journalists write about them without appearing to know what they
represent?
Before anyone can even apply for a patent, they must be successful in
demonstrating a level of technical leadership beyond everyone else's
understanding. Someone must discover, and perfect, solutions to problems
that no one else could solve before they have anything worthy of
consideration by the patent examination and administration authorities.
Wireless engineers working at InterDigital have been doing that for over 30
years now. Their efforts and accomplishments are what it took to earn the
patent rights available for license to others. The wireless products we
enjoy today would not work as well as they do if those engineers had not
invented many of the capabilities used by the various wireless manufacturers.
Many of those manufacturers are reluctant to pay for using the inventions of
others. Some even use the profits from that theft to fund endless legal
marathons. They take the work products of engineers working at other firms
and refuse to pay them for their efforts.
Here is my point; I think the failure to properly characterize the role of
the inventor, the problem solver, and the value creator aspects of a patent
owner unwittingly makes the media complicit in that nefarious behavior.
My hope is that this message will be taken in the constructive manner it is
intended, and that Wireless Week will be one of the first publications to
show some respect for the engineering brilliance and determination that is
represented by each and every patented invention.
Kind regards,
(a retired engineer who never earned a patent)
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