Okay, this is becoming all too familiar. Why am I commenting on these things so late, after everyone? Look at the Exubra thing, and now this..
Well, first I thought, regardless of the last minute courtroom drama typification, it was bound to happen anyway, so where is the surprise. And then I read another law blog. And another, and yet another.
At one point my only thoughts where, "God, I wish Nancy Grace was covering this..."
And then, slow as I am, I got to thinking...
Here are some of the salient features of the whole brouhaha:
1. The pharma industry is the largest user of continuations. Only one of them filed against the new rules. What were the other companies smok ...er doing?
2. Why did it take so long to get a district court to block the final rules?
3. Why was there not much effort put into the public commenting period?
Now, comes my most important worry:
4. The USPTO spent over a year to get to the rules. They were announced in August 2007 and this mania went into November, scintillated by webinars and other gala activities arranged for the public benefit (or the opposite effect thereof) by the USPTO.
Who, other than me is worried about holding someone accountable for all the public money and time spent in framing and trying to implement illegal rules, the illegality being as clear as it would be in broad daylight?
If government agencies are using public money, which is what they are using every minute they are functioning, shouldn't they be held accountable to spending the money in a sensible manner? Can they just act like irresponsible kids blowing away their grandpa's inheritance? How is it that the USPTO thought that this very anti-competitive, anti-inventive, anti-public-service measure would actually survive? How low has their ethical nature stooped that regardless of the answer to the previous question, they went ahead and tried to impose these measures anyway?
Given the amount of "public" interest in bringing the USPTO to its heels on the rules themselves, I don't think point 4 will be addressed...ever!
Atleast, as an inventor, the injunction makes me happy. Thank You, random Judge in Virginia...
No comments:
Post a Comment