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A comment on The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight. Parent comment

Re:The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight by StClaire on Monday March 20, 2017 @12:25AM (#13911684)
I had a neighbor who worked for the patent office. He worked on LCD screens for Samsung and some other manufacturers. He told me the patent office needs 2-3 years to grant the patent but the lifespan of the product is around 18 months. So, he told me, by the time the patent is granted the product is already off the shelves.

He got offended when I said the patent system was messed up

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight by josaka on Monday March 20, 2017 @12:00PM (#13915235)
This is still true under the default filing workflow. But the USPTO has mitigated problem with a new program that lets you pay a few thousand dollars and have your case examined w/in a year. Allowances within six months are not impossible. But it's expensive.
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Re:The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight by Razengan on Monday March 20, 2017 @01:10AM (#13911870)
Did you bring up Samsung's past implication in infringing upon the patents of other companies?
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Re:The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight by lostlogin on Monday March 20, 2017 @04:19AM (#13912527)
Comments suggesting Samsung disregards intellectual property are often down voted, and up votes go to comments on the triviality of designing of the rounded rect. What's going on here?
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Re:The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight by coldpie on Monday March 20, 2017 @08:30AM (#13913511)
Definitely not a reflection of a large group of people with different opinions of different strengths. It's actually a big HN conspiracy designed specifically to piss you off. You figured us out.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight by JustSomeNobody on Monday March 20, 2017 @08:19AM (#13913452)
It would be interesting to see the actual data on this.
[ Parent | on HN ]