Judge Posner, one of the authors of the leading modern text on the economics of intellectual property (amongst many other things), has published a controversial blog post questioning whether patents and copyright law, but particularly patents, are granting excessive protection.
Judge Posner accepts that patents for pharmaceuticals are the “poster child for patent protection”, but contrasts that to patents for computer software.
The IPKat explores some aspects of this part of Judge Posner’s critique.
In his judicial capacity, Judge Posner recently dismissed both Apple’s and Motorola Mobility’s attempts to use their respective patent portfolios to extract injunctions and damages from the other (pdf of the Opinion).
On copyright, Judge Posner is particularly concerned about the term of protection: currently (i.e., until Mickey Mouse next nears expiry) 70 years after the death of the author(s) for published works and the very restrictive approach to “fair use”. Amongst other things, Judge Posner refers to the music companies’ practice of requiring licences for “samples”.
Wonder what he would make of the Kookaburra that scotched Men at Work?
The 1709 blog delves into this part of his Honour’s views.
