Is Cost Accounting To Blame For Patent Hoarding?
Michael F. Martin is a lawyer/investor who is always good for some interesting debates in the comments here on the question of patents. He’s a supporter of the patent system, with some fixes. Suffice it to say that he and I disagree on an awful lot, though I appreciate his willingness to try to really dig into the questions being discussed and to dig through all sorts of ideas and research. It’s just that we usually come to almost the exactly opposite conclusions. I’m not sure where I come down on his latest thought piece, suggesting that part of the reason why companies have been hoarding so many patents is because of cost accounting. His assertion is that cost accounting treats patents as an asset, rather than as equity. That causes companies to overvalue the patent itself, rather than the investment and effort that need to go into making a useful, marketable product. His feeling is that as companies move away from static cost accounting, the problems related to patent hoarding will
