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Comment by notmyname | Hacker News Reader

Looking at the independent claims, it seems like this is a patent on reverse engineering (with a computer!) something, then getting a patent on it, and finally licensing that patent to the owner of the system that was reverse engineered.

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I wonder if this could be used as a Gödel patent. If you had a patent on patent trolling, it could be a weapon for patent reform: go around suing patent trolls. Either you win, in which case trolling ceases to be a viable business model, or you lose, setting a precedent for the argument that patents on business methods aren't valid. Either way, you tie up patent trolls in unproductive litigation, force them to argue against the current state of the patent system, and put a spotlight on the ridiculousness of the status quo.

> Gödel patent

I think you just coined a term.

Better copyright it!

Trademark, really.

Why not patent the trademarking of copyrights?

I think the problem with that is prior art has already been established :-/

I dunno - doesn't prior art have to be published?

Do court records count?

Prior art has to be extent in the public domain before the priority date. Court records count, they have well established dates which makes them good. Disclosure of an invention in public, outside of the allowed uses in the US, will also invalidate a patent.

If you had a patent on patent trolling

Funny you should say that. Elsewhere in this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1608556

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