Why Silicon Valley Likes Obama’s Patent Troll Offensive

Details

Author(s):
  • Vivek Wadhwa
Publish Date:
June 18, 2013
Publication Title:
Washington Post, June 18, 2013.
Format:
Op-Ed or Opinion Piece
Citation(s):
  • Vivek Wadhwa, Why Silicon Valley Likes Obama's Patent Troll Offensive, Washington Post, June 18, 2013.

Related Organization(s):

Abstract

Technology companies may have backed the President’s executive actions to curb patent trolling. But my first thought when reading about the move was that Obama was merely paying lip service to the technology community over an issue that cuts to the heart of innovation and job creation. Obama had failed, I thought, to go far enough. And watching White House press secretary Jay Carney hold up a picture of a crossed-out toy troll in a superhero outfit under the slogan “innovation, not litigation” didn’t help lead me to believe otherwise.
Granted, I say this as someone who believes software patents should be abolished given that technology often becomes obsolete in the time it takes to be granted a patent. Nevertheless, I was convinced that others in the Valley would agree with me.
This wasn’t enough, they’d tell me. The administration had to — and could — do more