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Originally Posted by politicophile
The Constitution gives the right of giving patents to the Congress.
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I understood that from the beginning of my question, but you still haven't answered my question - how long have they been enforcing patents owned by third parties (invididuals and corporations)? Patent infringement is a private matter, and the government usually only gets invovled as an arbiter. Again, I don't know the answer and I'm not trying to be a smartass, but is the Justice Department involved in Blackberry suit? What's their interest?
I understand that the goverment can grant patents, but where does it say that they have the right or the obligation to enforce them? For God's sake, there's a whole line of insurance that's set up specifically to defend against patent infringement claims, and I've made some money selling policies for exactly that. I'm finding the Justice Department's involvement counterintutive since they're trying to enforce the rights of one corporation over another without a court order or even the request of the first business.
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Originally Posted by politicophile
Also included in that article are provisions about establishing a post office and coining money. Criminal offenses related to mail fraud and counterfeiting are referred to the Secret Service for investigation. I am assuming, but I don't know for a fact, that some federal agency (FBI or Secret Service, probably) is charged with enforcing patent rights. Since patent laws are national, it would not be possible to use conventional state or local police to enforce the laws: the FBI would have to be called in.
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I did a quick search on "enforce patent rights" and couldn't come up with any government agency that is charged with this duty, if it is one. Again, this situation goes against my professional experience. Patent infringement isn't a crime - it may be a tortous action in
civil court, but there's no law against infringing on someone else's intellectual property that I know of. If there were, a lot of college students are going to be in serious trouble when papers are graded
A patent and a copyright are equivalent in the eyes of the law (the way that I understand it) and neither belongs to the government.
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Originally Posted by politicophile
How this is a condemnation of the USA PATRIOT Act is beyond me, as this is merely a question of jurisdiction.
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I don't think that this is a condemnation of the Act at all so much of an example of it being used as an excuse to harrass a business owner for some unknown reason. There's no crime being committed here. If there is, please tell me what it is because this all seems to be involved in civil court.