IP Pendulum Swings from Weak to Strong Protection

Just a few years ago, it was unusual for patents to make newspaper headlines — but times have changed. A small company is awarded half a billion dollars in damages in a patent infringement action against Microsoft. Thousands of demonstrators appear in Brussels as the European Union considers whether it should allow patents on software. Nearly every week, newspapers from Los Angeles to Louisville run patent stories — usually about how the patent system is outmoded, unfair or otherwise flawed.

Complaints about the patent system have now come to a boil, with significant congressional activity over the past month. Bills have been introduced and lobbying is intense. Why all the uproar, and what will result from all the turmoil?