[ql06] PROPERTY: IP patents killing US software industry?
- From: Steve Kennedy <2srk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:31:20 -0400
In a remarkably frank speech to the Global Technology Summit in
Washington, D.C. last week, Intel co-founder and chairman Andy Grove
warned of an apocalypse facing the US software industry. Among the
factors are the following:
- Cheaper engineers and coders in India and China
- Declining investment in R&D
- Declining college enrollment of US nationals in science and technology
- Logarithmic increases in money lost to IP litigation.
Software patents are now flooding the US patent office, which lacks the
resources to check them all for prior art. IP patents granted have gone
from around 500/yr. in 1990 to 3500/yr. in 2002.
As a result, IP litigation is a flourishing industry, with IP litigation
losses in the tech industry going from about $5 million in 1982 to $4
BILLION in 1998. Ever considered a career in patent litigation? That $4B
went into someone's pockets.
When asked what Intel was doing to remain competitive, Grove admitted it
was moving software production offshore. He said it was his duty to
shareholders to kill North American tech and service sector jobs.
It never seems to occur to these people that declining wages and
employment mean fewer people can afford their products. Henry Ford was
no communist,* but even he realized it made good business sense to pay
his workers enough so they could buy his cars.
I've attached a transcript of Grove's speech along with his slides.
* In fact, Ford was a raving anti-Semite and fascist.
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-- File: AndyGrove.pdf
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-- File: GTS_AndyGrove.pdf
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