The Patent Epidemic

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that our system for protecting intellectual property is broken. Rather than encouraging innovation, our patent system now often gets in the way. What are the implications of the current situation? How is the crisis likely to play itself out? We’ll provide answers.

Back in 2001, something strange happened in the world of patent law. Microsoft, which had been fighting a lawsuit by Priceline, suddenly gave up. The suit, filed in late 1999, claimed that Priceline had patented .....