The Latest in IT Security

Over the past year, the debate over patent reform has heated up, and attention has focused on the dark side of patents, particularly trolls who extract money off inventions they dont plan to use. But Microsoft, Apple, Ford, and several other companies are banding together to support a system that they depend on to incentivize new research. The newly formed Partnership for American Innovation (PAI) exists to promote a strong patent system and a well-funded US Patent and Trademark Office, but its main focus seems to be changing the tone of debate in an environment where patent law is sometimes seen as beyond repair. Members of the organization believe that as emotion and rhetoric about the patent trolls becomes more strident and cries that the patent system is broken proliferate, the rhetorics frankly gotten out of hand, says PAI senior advisor David Kappos, a former US patent office head.