Last month representatives of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) visited Stanford’s Law School campus to hear from entrepreneurs, academics and activists in the area about how they can improve the patent process, particularly for software businesses. They got a lot of feedback, indicating the many challenges ahead as the government plans to open a satellite patent and trademark office in Silicon Valley later this spring.
Software patents have come under more scrutiny in recent years as abuses of the system and patent wars between mega-companies like Google and Samsung have become more prevalent. At the same time, the USPTO’s outdated technology systems limit its ability to work well with Silicon Valley’s software industry. In this video, you’ll hear one entrepreneur’s story of his first experience with the patent system, and what businesses in the area hope to achieve by having patent examiners closer to home.
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