Barack Obama, patents, and Flint, Michigan

The WSJ has excerpts from an interview with Barack Obama on a campaign bus in Flint, Michigan (remember Roger and Me?)

The 271 blog noted a discussion of patent reform:

We've got offices like the patent office that are outdated to take advantage of new discoveries here in the United States. We need to retool our government so that it works with a 21st century economy and in some ways our campaign has shown what happens when you retool political campaigns to a new requirement. I think we need to do the same thing with government as well.

The 271 blog also noted the similarity of the use of terms like "outdated" to themes of the Coalition for Patent Fairness. However, full text like --outdated to take advantage of new discoveries-- does not resonate with CPF, who were complaining about patent damages, not the INABILITY to take advantage of new discoveries, like the airplane toilet queue and employee monitoring.

See also

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/12/barack-obama-should-listen-to-inventors.html