This tension is, in part, a direct consequence of a universal requirement for patent protection - namely, that a patent will not issue, or will be declared invalid, if the claimed invention was previously disclosed to the public.
Harmonization sets a universal standard for patenting; if countries do not enforce agreed international standards, they are potentially subject to sanctions imposed by the WTO.
They also lack universal health insurance and patent protection is inconsistent or nonexistent.
Yet the future has arrived, bringing software for Internet business practices with it, along with renewed charges from critics that the agency is still unprepared and continues to award patents for universal practices.
Several elements of T2 3-D: BAcrossAcross Time have been patented by Universal, including the seat drop effect, the blending of live action and film, the trio of projection screens, and the simulated assault weapons.
Judge Koh found that Samsung had infringed on an Apple patent for a "universal interface," which broadly describes crucial ingredients found in Siri, Apple's question-answering application (though the patent itself was filed by Apple before it acquired Siri in 2010).
When I talk with fellow Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, inventors and investors about patent reform, the universal response is "What's that?" They are unaware that the patent landscape -- which has helped make the USA into the most innovative country on the planet -- is about to tilt in favor of the large companies that have representation in Washington.
Poor countries should also be wary of any provisions in trade deals that try to impose stronger intellectual-property standards than TRIPS requires, or of any moves towards universal, one-size-fits-all patents in such controversial areas as biotechnology.
Steve Jobs, along with whatever else we're crediting to him, should be granted the patent on converting the universal human gesture for trying to remember something from looking above one's head to fumbling in one's pants pocket.
