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"The proper solution is to make it very easy to strike down bad patents ..." isn't this exactly what the author is trying to do? The author states that he uses StackExchange to "respond to requests for prior art that invalidate an overly-broad patent." Sounds like you two agree.

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The author thinks he is "helping" the USPTO - to stop bad patents. But he is doing nothing of the sort. The USPTO are part of the problem.

Do you really think that you can strike down a bad patent by simply sending some links for prior art to the USPTO ? Someone who applies for a patent must pay a fee to have it examined by an expert. I'm pretty sure that they're going to have to spend some time re-examining the patent and the new material to decide if it's relevant or not. I don't think that's going to be free.

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