Microsoft Sued Over Xbox Live

[Bitmap Frogs]

nightsurge said:
Seriously, if you want to patent something, it should be required that you have a working prototype that does specifically what you claim in your patent. Sure it's great to protect an idea, but I can think of an idea for millions of things that I'm sure other people have also thought of. Anyone can think of an idea, patents should only protect those who are actually trying to use that idea.

If these guys had working software to do this, then by all means they are in the right, but if they just patented the idea, then I hope they get sued by someone else the day after they settle with MS.

 

That would be unacceptable.

While patent trolling has become an insidious tax over innovation, with such a caveat people with smaller R&D budgets couldn't get any patent at all. Currently you have many engineering offices and labs patenting concepts to pursue financing with the patent as their bargaining card. 

As bad as things are now, I do not want a society where intellectual rights are only allowed to either the rich or the corporations wich is what would ultimately happen if your idea went through.