One Comment

  • Walter you clearly do not understand the startup world or patents. Patents are the only many start-ups are able to stay alive when large companies are happy to steal a start-up company’s product and technology. In the 90s we had strong patent systems and a thriving technology start-up market. In this decade we have significantly weakened our patent laws and have a weak technology start-up market.

    Since 2000 we have passed a number of laws and regulations that are killing innovation in the US. (see http://www.hallingblog.com) The incredible innovation of the 90s was based on technology start-up companies built on intellectual capital, financial capital, and human capital. All three of the pillars have been under attack since 2000. Our patent laws have been weakened reducing the value of intellectual capital. Sarbanes Oxley has made it impossible to go public reducing financial capital for start-ups and the FASB rules on stock options have made it harder to attract human capital to start-ups. The Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur: How Little Known Laws and Regulations are Killing Innovation http://www.amazon.com/Decline-Fall-American-Entrepreneur-Regulations/dp/1439261369/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262124667&sr=8-1, explains these problems in more detail.