Ownership is an age-old notion. We are comfortable with owning tangible things. But waters get muddied when it comes to owning thoughts – intellectual property. In a world where ideas can be shared instantly, protecting them is a challenge. It is one we must tackle urgently if Britain wants to continue developing and profiting from new technology.
In 2011, a record number of international patent applications were filed – 181,900, up 10.7 per cent on 2010. According to the statistics, we are living in an age of global invention. But it is a case of quantity over quality. Patents have become commodities to be traded.
The City’s strategic patent swaps are lucrative. Microsoft will hand over $1bn for 800 patents after AOL’s recent decision to sell its portfolio. But there is a dark side to patents constantly changing hands – “patent trolls”, non-practising entities set up to acquire IP rights that can be turned into cash. They are the belligerent armies of the patent wars. Buying a fist of patents allows an infringer to negotiate a settlement, even though they might be the guilty party. Such patent bartering puts quick gains ahead of invention.