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I have an idea to curb patent damage. Leave patent registrars as just that: a proof that the holder registered the idea. Actually that's exactly what the USPTO is now really.

If they want to use the patent in a suit for the first time, then trigger a much more rigorous process to test its validity.

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I like that idea too. The FFII (not known for their love of the patent system as used for software in some places) has proposed a more complex approach based on that idea, where there's a bounty system in place to act as a sort of garbage-collection mechanism to remove duplicate ideas:

http://eupat.ffii.org/07/p2parl/exam/

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