It's no secret that the U.S. patent system is broken. A quick look through the patent rolls turns up locks on such simple ideas as one-click shopping, pop-up windows and online credit card purchasing, not to mention classics like the 2002 patent on a "method of swinging on a swing."
A system that was created to protect invention has warped into the heaviest drag on innovation in America. Even Congress is unsatisfied, and last month sponsors in both the House and the Senate introduced legislation to overhaul the patent system for the first time in half a century.
But patent reform is complicated, and nobody claims to have all the answers. Should we abolish software and gene patents? Train patent examiners to recognize obvious ideas? Now the House committee marking up the bill wants to hear from a geekier crowd. Yes, that means you.
If you have ideas on how to patch the system, here's your chance to be heard. Contribute your patent bug-fix below, in the succinct, easily-grasped style of all great epiphanies. It will be instantly available for the poking-and-prodding of your fellow Wired News readers, who can vote it up or down through our embedded Reddit tool. Do it quick, before someone patents voting.
Before you post, check out the existing list and register your approval or dislike of the ideas already climbing the charts. We've seeded the list with the key provisions in the proposed Patent Reform Act of 2007.
Next week we'll take your top-ranking suggestions to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. Who knows, maybe one of your ideas will find its way into the final version of the bill. If it doesn't, at least they can't say they never thought of it.
While you can submit as many patent reform proposals as you want, you can only submit one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.
