Wired has an article on a proposal that would remake the patent review process into an Internet-based, peer-review method. The idea would be to “turn the review process over to tens or hundreds of thousands of experts in various fields who would collectively decide an application's fate via a massive rating system not unlike that of eBay.�
It gets to the heart of the patent review problem: that there are too many patent applications, too few examiners and a host of people trying to game the system. (Washington Monthly in July had a good discussion of the causes and effects of the problem.)
Just think, we could get rid of the stupid, bogus patents would be eliminated. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is even running a Patent Busting project in which it’s trying to get rid of patents for features like pop-up windows and online shopping carts. Here are more IT-based silly patents and of course Patently Silly, whose presentation of silly patents only enhanced by the wonderful commentary – sometimes in verse!
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