米国 Obama政権下の知財政策

Obama氏が次期米国大統領に就任するに先立ち、Agency Review Teamsが組織されました。これらチームは政府関係各省庁を徹底的にレビューする予定とのことです。これらチームのひとつ、
Economics and International Trade Team Leads
にReed Hundt氏の名前があります。Blog271によれば、彼は2006年にフォーブス誌で米国の特許システムについての意見を述べているとのことです。彼が2006年当時の思いを今も抱いているとするならば、米国特許システムの大幅な改善が期待されます。

from Forbes
Reed Hundt, 01.30.06

America's patent system is a mess. The four-year-long fight between BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and NTP, a small patent-holding firm, is just the latest illustration of the myriad ways in which the patent process malfunctions in this country. NTP, which holds several patents that it claims BlackBerry's wireless technology infringes, is in a position to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from RIM as a price for not shutting down BlackBerry's system. As of press time BlackBerrys are still humming, but the legal fight drags on. Is this any way for a capitalist economy to treat one of its most effective new inventions? Of course not. The U.S. ought to chuck this 18th-century relic and start all over again. Here's what the ideal system would look like.

First, we should slash the number of patents granted each year by 90%. In 2004 the U.S. Patent &Trademark Office issued 165,000 patents.

Second, we need to spend more money on the system. The budget of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is $1.5 billion. That ought to be tripled to $4.5 billion.

Third, we should introduce an element of privatization into this public system.

Fourth, all patent case awards should be forward looking and linked to lost sales.（Read more)