Patents on the basics of electronics

[bristomath]

Hi Community! Long time lurker.

We all know there are a number of dumb patents out there that never should have seen the light of day. I found a brand new one which appears to patent split rails / offset voltages with a DAC, which I'm pretty sure has been used in designs since long before 2014. 

https://patents.google.com/patent/US9571121B2/en

Any other particular noteworthy bad patents?

[X]

Microsoft patented some "InstaLoad" rubbish a long time ago, and Dave did a video on it.

http://www.eevblog.com/files/Microsoft%20Instaload%20Patent%20US7527893.pdf

It is really easy to short the terminals out on these things, given that each contact has a positive and negative terminal. I believe these are connected internally (positive-positive, negative-negative) and creates a potential for a short.

Understandable motivation from Microsoft, but a rechargeable mouse with Li-Ion pack or a 9V battery would have worked better than this junk, both of which were available around the time of the patent.

[rstofer]

I can't see that patent standing up against "prior art".  Designers have been adding offset voltages for decades.

OTOH, our patent office has become a laughing stock in recent years.

[bristomath]

I can't see that patent standing up against "prior art".  Designers have been adding offset voltages for decades.

OTOH, our patent office has become a laughing stock in recent years.

Litigating and defending patents is pretty expensive work (if you're not already a patent attorney in East Texas) - outside of empty threats and sending a few C&D letters, what value does this buy a small company?

[AndyC_772]

Here in the UK, there are tax incentives to encourage companies to develop new technology, patent it, and incorporate it into products. It's referred to as 'patent box', and can be well worthwhile if you're expecting to profit from technology you've invented. Other countries may have similar schemes to try and encourage investment in R&D.

Also, it's often the stated mission of a small company to get itself in a position to be bought by a larger one. The goal, of course, is to increase the value of the company as far as possible, and having a patent on key technology can help achieve that goal. Even if the small company doesn't have the means to enforce it against infringers, a bigger one certainly does, and so patented technology can have greater value than the same technology without patent protection.