By Joseph N. Hosteny of Niro, Scavone, Haller & NiroRegular IP Today columnist Joseph N. Hosteny is an intellectual property
litigation attorney with the Chicago law firm of Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro. A Registered
Professional Engineer and former Assistant US Attorney, his articles have also appeared in
Corporate Counsel Magazine, The Docket (American Corporate Counsel Association),
American Medical News, Inventors’ Digest, Litigation Magazine and Assembly
Engineering Magazine. Mr. Hosteny can be reached at (312) 236-0733, or by e-mail at jhosteny@hosteny.com, or by visiting his web site at http://www.hosteny.com.
The general counsel of Intel, a giant in an industry that was founded on the
creativity of a few individuals, bemoans what has become of our patent system in recent years. In an
article entitled Patent Nonsense, appearing in The Wall Street Journal on July
12, Bruce Sewell reiterates every possible canard about patents, and about the patent system.
He claims the patent system of the United States “favors speculators over
innovators.” Mr. Sewell, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, doesn’t know
what he is talking about. In fact, the largest users of the patent system here aren’t individuals or
speculators. The largest users are corporations -- both foreign and domestic...
