Wegner on Bessen/Meurer in LA Times

Harold Wegner's piece on Bessen/Meurer that appeared in the Financial Times was reproduced in the Los Angeles Times. Text included:

In this new book, "Patent Failure: How Judges, Bureaucrats, and Lawyers Put Innovation at Risk," economist James Bessen and law academic Michael Meurer show that the system no longer provides predictable property rights. They go on to offer solutions based on empirical evidence from history, law and economics.

The book is timely, despite the apparent demise of Sen. Patrick J. Leahy's proposed legislation to overhaul the U.S. patent system. The Vermont Democrat's proposal is backed by the electronics, information technology and manufacturing industries in the U.S.; they complain that patents bring meager income compared with the high cost of litigation.

See also


Harold Wegner takes a walk on the dark side

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-on-bessenmeurer.html

UPDATE:

Wegner was fried by the patenthawk blog. First sentence:

Hal Wegner displays astonishing senility in a disjointed and practically schizophrenic review of pulp fiction by academics Bessen and Meurer (B&M).

Also: Wegner does the patent community a grievous disservice by granting B&M any credibility. Or, perhaps it would be better put to observe that Wegner's views towards B&M destroys his credibility.

IPBiz already stuck a fork in S.1145. Do we need another fork?