FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- April 9, 2025
669 views 9 min

Weaponized Fairness: Big Tech’s Dirty Secret in the U.S. Patent System

There’s a nasty little game going on in the U.S. patent system—one that no one in Washington seems willing to talk about. Big Tech corporations, the same ones screaming the loudest about imaginary “patent trolls” and “bad patents”, are quietly withholding prior art from the USPTO. Then, when those patents get issued, they turn around […]

28 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- June 21, 2024
1,385 views 7 min

How to Write a Good Patent From Someone Who Has Patented Nothing and Is Not A Patent Attorney

write good patent

I haven’t written anything for external consumption in a long time unless you count the stuff I do for UnemployedProfessors.com and my Instagram captions. After last week’s US Inventor’s call, however, I was persuaded to not only write for Paul, my favorite patent frenemy, but also change my topic to this one. It has a […]

-12 POSTS
I come from an “all data, all the time” background. I’ve spent over 20 years working with co ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- May 14, 2024
1,308 views 14 min

Dear Congress, the PTAB Hinders Innovation and Threatens National Security

PTAB hinders innovation threats national security

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) effectively invalidates 84% of the patents it fully adjudicates. That fact comes directly from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) PTAB Trial Statistics FY23 End of Year Outcome. This astronomical PTAB invalidation rate has effectively shut down investment in early-stage startups, particularly in vital sectors that require […]

-12 POSTS
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FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- May 7, 2024
1,006 views 6 min

Shut Up! Denied Right to Defend Your Rights

no rights for patent owners

Inventors naturally solve problems that others have not. Tom Waugh had a successful business in Alabama, providing fittings and parts for utility poles and electrical systems. Utility poles must be strong and durable, especially tall ones with many lines. The metal utility poles that existed before Tom got involved required taking large sheets of metal […]

-12 POSTS
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FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- April 4, 2024
1,124 views 6 min

Apple Goes To Amazing Lengths To Destroy Inventors

apple destroy innovation

It used to be that a biometric sensor wouldn’t work on a moving body. A heart sensor would only work on a motionless person, like a patient in a coma. The solution that solved this problem was invented and patented by Dr. Steven LeBeouf. Dr. LeBeouf, who has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (no small […]

-12 POSTS
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