Guidant Financial Group Blog

Wasn’t it in the movie The Matrix where they explored the idea that humans would eventually invent something that would end up being their demise?

A little bleak, we know, but there’s a tie-in here, we promise!

It would seem that the American entrepreneur is the first segment of the human population to fulfill this idea of man’s own advancement cannibalizing itself.

A new bill before the House, which proposes numerous changes to the existing U.S. patent law, threatens to negatively impact new and smaller inventors to the benefit of large, already established corporations.

The proposed changes, as outlined by Entrepreneur.com (see How Patent Law Changes Could Hurt Small Inventors), include a “first-to-file” system. This system favors large corporations with the resources to file for patents regularly. Also included are changes to the infringement damages law, which puts the burden on the inventor to prove any infringement was intentional (difficult for a small inventor working on a shoestring budget); and changes to the appeals system that allows appeals to be filed before a final judgment has been made, thus drawing out the process – and legal expenses – of the inventor.

Just like in Citizen Kane, big corporations may come to realize that what they had in the beginning – small inventors who could freely create a better mousetrap (or a sled named Rosebud) – is what they really need to be happy and successful.

Where would they or America be without small inventors? Great ideas certainly don’t all come from large corporations!

Without a patent system that protects small inventors as much as the big ones, American capitalism -- and the small businesses that drive it -- could take a blow with long-term consequences. At the very least, it could stunt the ability for many creative entrepreneurs to follow through on their dreams.