http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/innovation-crisis--job-creation-stalled-by-patent-backlog-says-pat-choate-535400.html;_ylt=Aqow7f_4vpcK9Kz1LCUTS.O7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2ZDZlNGswBHBvcwMxMARzZWMDdG9wU3RvcmllcwRzbGsDaW5ub3ZhdGlvbmNy?tickers=%5Edji,%5Eixic,XLK,INTC,AAPL,MSFT,GOOG&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=

The U.S. Patent Office is broken: There is a backlog of 1.2 million patents waiting for approval, Choate notes. "Patents are the basis for most innovation. People will not invest in new technology unless they can have a long period of exclusive use so that they can get their money back." If innovation is at risk, it also prevents business from spending and creating new jobs. "The value of patents, copyrights and trademarks, which is called intellectual property, now makes up almost 80% of the total value of U.S. corporations,” says Choate. "I say the greatest store-house of unused, cutting-edge technology in the world are the patent office warehouses in Northern Virginia." Many technologies "go obsolete" while waiting for approval, he tells Aaron in this clip. Meanwhile, many big companies use what's know as "efficient infringement," which is a fancy way of saying they calculate the benefits of stealing someone else's patents vs. the possibility of getting caught, tried in court and being forced to pay damages and penalties, Choate says. (This "strategy" may explain the rash of patent infringement suits in the tech sector such as between Apple-HTC, Intel-AMD and NTP vs. everybody.) "The Patent Office granted Alexander Graham Bell's patent for the telephone three weeks after he submitted his application," Choate says. "Today, the Patent Office has such a backlog that it takes three years from the time an application is submitted until it is approved or rejected." If President Obama’s tax credit for research and development actually spurs economic activity, will our new innovations stall in the three-year backlog at the U.S. Patent Office? "As a country, this is very foolish," Choate says. "Spend another $1 billion, hire [more] patent examiners, make a patent cheap, do it quickly, and let’s get on with the innovation that we need for job creation in this country." ___