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Article: Patent wars - Better get yourself armed. Everybody else is.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 8, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN THE late 19th century, patents were the stuff of popular myth. Thomas Edison, dubbed the wizard of Menlo Park, was a folk hero. Crowds mobbed his laboratory to see his inventions. Robber barons fought for control of his patents, and court battles over them fascinated the public.
Intellectual property does not grip the public imagination in quite the same way today, yet something similar to those great patent wars seems to be happening. The pace of patenting is accelerating. Business is heading for the courts again. And criticism of the recent award of patents on wide areas of Internet business is growing. Academics and Internet activists are concerned that the ...