Patent Troll Reform Killed

I'll digress a bit into another area of law that, like the divorce system, is sorely in need of reform, namely patent law. Last week a very weak but nonetheless important first step in patent reform was killed in the U. S. House. 

In the past I have had to deal with some of these so called patent trolls, entities that exits to, what is in essence, legally extort money from companies.  Their modus operandi is to acquire vague patents from third parties and then send letters to companies stating they are in violation of those patents and asking them to settle. Many companies settle because it is often quite a bit cheaper than fighting the patent due to the legal costs. 

One suit I was involved with was from a company claiming to have a patent for (roughly) putting information on a web page and then electronically sending that information to a program initiated via user interaction. So they claimed that anytime anyone entered information on a web page and pressed  enter they deserved a licensing fee. Utterly ridiculous. We used to joke that we were going to patent the concept of a gas that would sustain life. Anyone who breathed would then own us a fee. Trying to extort money from companies based on obvious concepts should be a crime not a get rich quick scheme. 

The cost to the economy? $29 billion in direct costs. Not quite up to the divorce industry but still significant. And like divorce the direct costs are only a small fraction of the true costs. Think how much stronger our country would be and how much more taxes the government would bring in if all those smart but unethical patent trolls actually worked to increase the wealth (whether that be GDP, artistic, or moral) of the nation.  

Players - Judge Robert Vaguely

I have added a page on Judge Robert Vaguely in the Players section.

I have also taken off the "Draft" on Spring's page. Instead I will just post whenever I update any of the Player pages.

Jobian Challenge

At times, maybe when I am driving or out walking, the vileness of what has happened to me hits me hard. I feel an aching void in my chest that seems to consume my soul. It isn't Spring's leaving me that hurts, I am long over that, but the fact that our society not only tolerates but rewards such criminal actions. The people that commit the crimes not only get way Scot-free but are looked up to by their peers as successful. I will never know how Spring, Nelly Wince and Judge Mearly can look themselves in the mirror. Is the money, the control, the power, really worth becoming an evil person? I guess they made their Faustian bargain and will have to live with the consequences. A least I can take comfort in the knowing that I have acted with integrity during my Jobian challenge.   

Players - Judge Richard Mearly

I have added a page on Judge Richard Mearly in the Players section. 

MRP - Lifetime Alimony

"Is it time to scrap lifetime alimony payments in divorce cases?" -  was published over a year ago on the Minnesota Public Radio website but is still very relevant. The comments especially are highly informing. Not one of the comments, whether written by a man or woman, supports permanent alimony. Many of the stories in the comments are downright painful to read. How can we as a society tolerate such injustice? 

NPR - Corruption in Ukraine

I head an story on NPR titled, "Corruption In Ukraine Robs HIV Patients Of Crucial Medicine" in which Ari Shapiro states, 

I recently took a Ukrainian taxi from the airport to my hotel. The fare should have been $20. The cab driver was adamant that I pay $30. When I finally paid him $30, the driver gave me a receipt with a wink. He'd made it out for $40.

The driver got a cut by overcharging me, and assumed that I would take a cut by overcharging NPR (which I did not).

In Ukraine, corruption is a daily fact of life. It reaches into big business, law enforcement, education and even the smallest transactions between people on the street.

Now many people may view this as an example of how corrupt the rest of the world is compared to the United States. However, I have been on business trips where the taxi driver handed me a couple blank receipts along with the real one. This is common in a number of cities. In many localities our taxi drivers are just as corrupt as the Ukrainian ones. And in many industries such as the $50 billion divorce one, we rank among the most corrupt in the world. 

Divorce Corp

I just learned about a movie that came out in January called Divorce Corp. I have not seen the full movie yet but the trailer is compelling. There is also a companion book. Divorce is a $50 billion industry and growing. And it is utterly corrupt and unjust.  This needs to change. Hopefully this site will help achieve that goal in a meaningful way.