Re:The Supreme Court is struggling to rein in America's rogu...
by dctoedt on Wednesday June 04, 2014 @04:51PM
(#7848192)
> Laws are made by lobbyists and enforcement of those laws, sometimes involving judgments of billions of dollars seem to rest on some good ol' boys in some dingy Texas courtroom.
It's not nearly as bad as you make it sound, but there's certainly a kernel of truth to it -- not just in patent law, but in law generally. For example, look at Tesla Motors having to contend with state laws protecting car dealers, and Uber and Lyft with taxicab laws, and AirBnB with hotel laws, and craft brewers with alcohol-distribution laws. All those laws have at least some "rational basis," but it's no secret who pushed to get them enacted and who pushes to keep them in force.
In law school, I had a hard time getting my mind around that brute fact: Power matters, even in the legal system; no matter where you go, people push to get the government to (i) help them do what they like and (ii) stop others from doing what they (the pushers) don't like. I tell my students not to be disillusioned or discouraged about that, but to accept it for what it is; plan around it; and get on with their business. [EDIT: I agree with the sibling commenters who say that in this regard the U.S. is way better than a lot of places.]
It's not nearly as bad as you make it sound, but there's certainly a kernel of truth to it -- not just in patent law, but in law generally. For example, look at Tesla Motors having to contend with state laws protecting car dealers, and Uber and Lyft with taxicab laws, and AirBnB with hotel laws, and craft brewers with alcohol-distribution laws. All those laws have at least some "rational basis," but it's no secret who pushed to get them enacted and who pushes to keep them in force.
In law school, I had a hard time getting my mind around that brute fact: Power matters, even in the legal system; no matter where you go, people push to get the government to (i) help them do what they like and (ii) stop others from doing what they (the pushers) don't like. I tell my students not to be disillusioned or discouraged about that, but to accept it for what it is; plan around it; and get on with their business. [EDIT: I agree with the sibling commenters who say that in this regard the U.S. is way better than a lot of places.]