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You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. You can lead a corporate horse to water but you'll have to give it hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it drink. Everyone has been wanting the PTO to change the patent system, but it's most likely not going to happen (if it ever does) for a very long time.

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Isn't it good that the PTO resists pressure from either group? I mean, the only part which would have influence on how they work is the entity above PTO, whichever that one is (Supreme Court/DOJ/?).

Congress. Congress are the ones who count.

It's both good and bad. It seems no matter how many people complain or companies like Google come forward and try and change things by kicking their feet around and causing a scene, nothing changes. The fact the system is such a mess and changing even the slightest part of the entire patent process would undoubtedly spawn more legal action than you could imagine from big and small companies alike who make their money off of obscure patents. When it comes to politics money talks, maybe someone should start a lobbyist website where people can crowd-source funds to lobby Government to get things changed? A Kickstarter for government lobbying to benefit the people.

> A Kickstarter for government lobbying to benefit the people.

That's actually a great idea--it's basically a petition with a donation required to sign (thus making it into something that actually has autonomous power, rather than some names on papper.)

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