Patent reform: doing the same thing repeatedly?

From a discussion of Oreos in China: Back then, Kraft was selling the U.S. version of Oreos in China. Albert Einstein's definition of insanity -- doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results -- "characterized what we were doing," says Mr. Warren, vice president of marketing for Kraft Foods International.

Quote at IAM: In spite of anecdotal evidence to the contrary, there is no hard empirical evidence that patent quality has substantially deteriorated in the last five or 10 years. Frequently cited indicators such as opposition or revocation rates have to be treated with great caution as they do not provide statistically sound data. With regard to the timeliness characteristic of quality, which is not covered by legislation, there has been deterioration. Alison Brimelow, President of the European Patent Office

A comment at patenthawk: Whether you believe it or not, a good portion of the claims I see (I would say more than Mr. Dudas quotes) aren't even in the ball park. Attorneys dont need a salty searcher with a vitriolic blog, they need Google. I've stopped bitching about searching because I can reject 90% of my cases with Google & Google scholar. Its almost laughable.


Note mention of IPBiz on BRIC