Re: The patent process [Was Re: Sharing the Family PC is Patent-Pending]

[Al Dente]

AES/newspost wrote:


> Can anyone think of any other legislative or regulatory processes in 
> which a law or government regulation is issued at the request of and for 
> the benefit of an interested individual and:

Farming Subsidies
Government Small Business Contracts
Welfare
Social Security
Aid to Dependent Children
...

The rest of your points are spurious because they rest on your assertion 
that a Patent is a 'law' therefore you re-iterate statements about 
'legislation' in order to effect a comparison.  But a Patent is not a 
Law -- it is more what would be called an Entitlement.  The items listed 
above are Entitlement -- and the law that *entitles* the recipient is 
always subject to debate and revocation -- however, the process of 
/entitling/ someone is usually always left to an empowered body and 
therefore not subject to detailed public scrutity.

That is -- you can vote for Congressment who may be anti-farming 
subsidies, but you can't personally interfere with the awarding of 
subsidies to Con-Agra.  You have to fight the process in toto -- the 
whole idea of Farming subsidies ( or Patents ).

Again, Patents are not *laws*, they are entitlements.


> * The content of the proposed legislation or regulation is kept more or 
> less absolutely secret from all other potentially interested parties for 
> as much as the first18 months of its consideration; and




> * Other interested parties are not allowed to comment at all on the 
> proposed legislation in any event until after it has issued and taken on 
> the force of law (no public hearings, no requests for public comment of 
> any kind); and
>
> * The issuing agency will not consider any comments or relevant 
> information that any other interested party may try to supply before 
> issuance; and
>
> * Even after issuance any interested party has to pay a substantial fee 
> ($8000) just to offer comment or information regarding the already 
> issued law or regulation; and
>
> * Doing so may have significant negative impact on the judicial rights 
> of any individual who offers such comment and is subsequently accused of 
> infringing the same law or regulation?
>
>
> --------------
> [Off-topic postscript: I suppose many of the Bush administration's 
> energy, environmental, defense and other legislative and regulatory 
> policies fall under the first and third of the items above, but not the 
> others.]