Open Source Mechanic blog

My friend Ron at inventorsagarage.com found this proposed Minnesota legislation which would grant an employee the right to use a patent if his/her employer sits on the patent for too long:


(b) An employer who has a right to develop or utilize an invention or proposal
1.11must make a substantial investment in the invention or proposal within five years of the
1.12submission of the invention or proposal or forfeit all rights and interests in the invention
1.13or proposal to the employee.


I’d wondered about this possibility years ago when I noticed how common it was for an invention to languish in an employer’s defensive patent armory while everyone, including the inventor, is blocked from doing anything with it. There are many reasons for this, for example a company may be operating in a business where the patent might not be applicable. Do we want the idea for a 90% efficiency solar panel or a cure for cancer to sit in a warehouse because the inventor’s day job is at an investment firm or oil company which has absolutely no financial interest in developing the technology? Even when a new patent aligns with a company’s core business, developing the patent might not figure into to the company’s immediate business plan. SEC guidelines force companies to focus on near term (90 day) profits. IMHO this discouraged R&D and may have contributed to the fact that NASDAQ remains below the trend line set in the pre PC, pre-Internet vacuum tube era. The proposed ‘use it or lose it’ law might help uncork some of the innovations which, I imagine are sitting in a warehouse not unlike the one at the end of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’

I agree with Ron that this law has very little chance of passing, but at least it has seen the light of day. If a similar law has passed in another state or country it would be interesting to see if it encouraged innovation. I suspect it would discourage large companies who have every reason to want to maintain their patent hoard, but it would also encourage small start-ups who would take advantage of the wasted IP. Sooner or later we will reach a critical mass of inventors whose creations are kept under wraps and there will be a level of reform somewhere. Then perhaps one day the patent system will live up to the mission of creating an environment that “encourages investment in innovation, and fosters entrepreneurial spirit.”