I was thinking about the problem of corruption and how systems of accountability tend to reduce corruption. I then thought of how this relates to the patent system. Part of the problem with the patent system is a lack of accountability.
Originally I came up with a list of 10 steps to fix the patent system, but this doesn’t fix the underlying problem, which is the patent lawyers themselves. So here’s a simpler version that will do a better job.
How to fix the patent system in 3 easy steps
- Patent lawyers make minimum wage.
- Every patent granted pays a bonus of $10,000, 10% as an end-of-year bonus and the majority after the patent expires.
- If a patent is overturned in court, the legal fees incurred to overturn the patent are reinbursed to the challenger and come out of the bonus.
So there you go. If the patent lawyers do their jobs and only grant meaningful, non-obvious patents they can make a great wage. If they do the job they are currently doing they make squat, which with the current state of the patent system is what they deserve. Companies win because the cost to fight frivolous patents comes from those responsible for granting them in the first place.