lefty
12-21-2012, 11:12 AM
Mark Cuban’s ‘Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents’ Just Got Filled
By Sarah Mitroff (http://www.wired.com/business/author/sarah-mitroff/)
12.20.12
6:30 AM
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/business/2012/12/origin_2855627496.jpg (http://blog-admin.wired.com/business/?attachment_id=70220)Mark Cuban. Photo: jdlasica (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica/2855627496/)/Flickr
A big mouth and deep pockets just joined the battle to change what many see is a broken patent system. Billionaire angel investor Mark Cuban and Minecraft game creator Markus “Notch” Persson have donated a combined (https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-patent-project-gets-half-million-dollar-boost-mark-cuban-and-notch) $500,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (https://www.eff.org/) to help the organization fight for change.
As with everything that crosses his big brain, Cuban has been quite vocal about his views on the patent system. In August, after hearing the verdict from the Apple v. Samsung (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/apple-v-samsung-verdict/?tk) patent infringement case, Cuban tweeted “Thx Apple, it’s now mandatory for big tech companies to sue each other. Prices go up while competition and innovation suffer #appleflation.”
The Dallas Mavericks owner’s $250,000 donation goes toward hiring a new patent litigation lawyer, Daniel Nazer. The money also funds a new title for current EFF attorney Julie Samuels. She’s now “The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.” Yes, seriously.
Separately, Markus Persson, game developer and creator of the popular game Minecraft, donated another $250,000 to the EFF. The organization says his money “cements EFF’s ability to tackle the systemic problems with software patents.”
The combined $500,000 donation will help the EFF in its ongoing patent reform program (https://defendinnovation.org/), which among other things seeks to shorten the length of time a software patent is valid from 20 years to five years, and make so-called “patent trolls” pay all legal costs if they unsuccessfully sue a company for infringement.
Half a million bucks is a big chunk of change, but seeing how messy (http://www.wired.com/opinion/category/the-patent-fix/) the patent system is, and how large and entrenched the companies that use it to advantage are, the EFF will likely to need a few more big mouths and some more deep pockets to get the job done.
By Sarah Mitroff (http://www.wired.com/business/author/sarah-mitroff/)
12.20.12
6:30 AM
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/business/2012/12/origin_2855627496.jpg (http://blog-admin.wired.com/business/?attachment_id=70220)Mark Cuban. Photo: jdlasica (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica/2855627496/)/Flickr
A big mouth and deep pockets just joined the battle to change what many see is a broken patent system. Billionaire angel investor Mark Cuban and Minecraft game creator Markus “Notch” Persson have donated a combined (https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-patent-project-gets-half-million-dollar-boost-mark-cuban-and-notch) $500,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (https://www.eff.org/) to help the organization fight for change.
As with everything that crosses his big brain, Cuban has been quite vocal about his views on the patent system. In August, after hearing the verdict from the Apple v. Samsung (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/apple-v-samsung-verdict/?tk) patent infringement case, Cuban tweeted “Thx Apple, it’s now mandatory for big tech companies to sue each other. Prices go up while competition and innovation suffer #appleflation.”
The Dallas Mavericks owner’s $250,000 donation goes toward hiring a new patent litigation lawyer, Daniel Nazer. The money also funds a new title for current EFF attorney Julie Samuels. She’s now “The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.” Yes, seriously.
Separately, Markus Persson, game developer and creator of the popular game Minecraft, donated another $250,000 to the EFF. The organization says his money “cements EFF’s ability to tackle the systemic problems with software patents.”
The combined $500,000 donation will help the EFF in its ongoing patent reform program (https://defendinnovation.org/), which among other things seeks to shorten the length of time a software patent is valid from 20 years to five years, and make so-called “patent trolls” pay all legal costs if they unsuccessfully sue a company for infringement.
Half a million bucks is a big chunk of change, but seeing how messy (http://www.wired.com/opinion/category/the-patent-fix/) the patent system is, and how large and entrenched the companies that use it to advantage are, the EFF will likely to need a few more big mouths and some more deep pockets to get the job done.