[rayiner]

Appealing to the "engineers versus lawyers" dichotomy is a predictable play, but not really one rooted in reality. To use copyright law as an example, it wasn't the copyright trolls that created the modern "copyright infringement is a crime!" regime--it was Adobe and Microsoft and all the engineering companies that lobbied to get software pirates treated like arms traffickers. Similarly, it wasn't patent trolls and patent lawyers that created the modern patent regime--it was the IBMs and GEs and Mercks of the world.

I do agree about your general point, which is that the new generation of engineering companies should lobby for reforms that they think necessary. Though I'd be interested to see if they have the same sort of principled objections to the trademark regime that is the bedrock of the advertising industry that is now their lifeblood.

[WildUtah]

Trademark? Why would that be a problem? Sure, any complex system has some bad cases, but we don't see thousands of innovative companies shaken down and destroyed for the corrupt benefit of trademark litigators.

Likewise there are problems with copyright, but -- unless you're really an infringer -- not on one thousandth the scale of patents. And boat hull registratons, trade secrets, plant breeders' rights, design patents, and trade dress are similar. It's only utility patents that are rotten and systematically corrupted.