These ML patents are damaging the progress of AI research, and also the commercial use of this intellectual progress.
One way to attack this would be if researchers outside of Google and Facebook started patenting their discoveries, but then immediately released all rights to it under a license that's valid for anyone who does not sue offensively. That way if Google wanted to sue for infringing use of invention A, they would themselves immediately be infringing on invention B and C. Quickly any large player would be entangled into a web where any offensive lawsuit is impossible. If we had standardized licenses with these clauses, we could stand a chance to stop this.