On Friday, 18 July 2014, I appeared on the Beyond Zero – Science and Solutions program on Melbourne community radio station 3CR, to talk about the role of patents in innovation, and more particularly about the recent announcement by Tesla Motors of its intention to ‘open source’ its considerable patent portfolio.The broadcast interview, which runs for about 27 minutes, in now available as a podcast, or as streaming audio, from both the Beyond Zero Emissions web site, and the 3CR web site.
The discussion, with hosts Matt Grantham and Anthony Danielle, was fairly wide ranging, taking in the origins and objectives of patent law, the rise of patent trolls, the role of patents in the setting and implementation of technology standards, Google’s IP strategy around the Android operating system and, of course, the meaning and implications of Tesla’s announcement.
About Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE)
Beyond Zero Emissions Inc. is a not-for-profit research and education organisation known for its work designing and implementing a zero emissions economy for Australia. It's goal is to transform Australia from a 19th century fossil fuel based, emissions intensive, economy to a 21st-century renewable-energy-powered clean-tech economy.About Radio 3CR
Radio 3CR was established in 1976. Broadcasters on the station present over 120 radio programs every week and listeners can tune in on 855AM, stream live through the web or download podcasts of the shows.The station was created to provide a voice for those denied access to the mass media, particularly the working class, women, indigenous people and the many community groups and community issues that the mass media tends to ignore. Sadly, this is an all-too-apt description of the place of climate science and action in the Australian media, particularly in view of the government’s recent abolition of the country’s carbon pricing scheme.
Comments
I realise this post could attract comments relating to climate science, rather than patents and innovation. Although such comments would arguably be off-topic, polite and thoughtful comments on the subject are welcome. But please note that inflammatory comments will be summarily removed.Before You Go…
Thank you for reading this article to the end – I hope you enjoyed it, and found it useful. Almost every article I post here takes a few hours of my time to research and write, and I have never felt the need to ask for anything in return.
But now – for the first, and perhaps only, time – I am asking for a favour. If you are a patent attorney, examiner, or other professional who is experienced in reading and interpreting patent claims, I could really use your help with my PhD research. My project involves applying artificial intelligence to analyse patent claim scope systematically, with the goal of better understanding how different legal and regulatory choices influence the boundaries of patent protection. But I need data to train my models, and that is where you can potentially assist me. If every qualified person who reads this request could spare just a couple of hours over the next few weeks, I could gather all the data I need.
The task itself is straightforward and web-based – I am asking participants to compare pairs of patent claims and evaluate their relative scope, using an online application that I have designed and implemented over the past few months. No special knowledge is required beyond the ability to read and understand patent claims in technical fields with which you are familiar. You might even find it to be fun!
There is more information on the project website, at claimscopeproject.net. In particular, you can read:
- a detailed description of the study, its goals and benefits; and
- instructions for the use of the online claim comparison application.
Thank you for considering this request!
Mark Summerfield
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