Nintendo just won another huge patent case!

[thismeintiel]

noname2200 said:

Teeqoz said:

fatslob-:O said:

IPs and patents are different things ... 

The latter is a subset of a former and I was specifically only against patents ...

Your argument could be just as well applied to IPs. BTW patents increase competetion and innovation. Instead of just using the same tech the  other companies use, companies are forced to innovate, and get better ideas than what the other companies have in order to stay relevant.

Moreover, good luck getting folks to invent new machines/processes/etc. without letting them cash in first. It would still happen, but not at the same rate.

Exactly.  It would also allow for a bunch of cheap, low-quality knock-offs, like they have in China.  That would NOT be good.  Of course, on the flip side, patent trolls and patents that are too generic do need to be dealt with.  There should never be companies whose only source of income is from owning and enforcing patents.  Also, even if a company has a patent, if they are no longer, or never were, implementing that tech in one of there products, the patent needs to expire after a certain amount of months.