By Joseph N. Hosteny of Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro
Regular 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...
