CNET’s editor at large Michael Kanellos was brave enough to write a love letter to patents and copyright and publish it on the internet this week.  In the piece, Kanellos writes:

Although it’s not a really popular sentiment these days, I think patents, trademarks and copyrights are simply fantastic and a primary, necessary driver of the world economy. Without them, the rapid pace of technological innovation around the world would slow to a crawl. And frankly, without them, most open-source projects would rapidly wither away: without an intellectual property behemoth like Microsoft to fight, what would be the point?

In case you weren’t aware, the Pareto principle’s vocal minority on the web happen to hate patents and copyright, more than Paris Hilton hates her publicist (or does she love him again?).  As expected the pro-IP piece, illicited the usual Pavlovian response from the crowd filled with posts questioning the author’s integrity and intelligence.  Our friend Tim Lee at TLF falls into some of the same knee-jerk reactions, but also makes some interesting points about the Google example Kanellos used (although, I wouldn’t dismiss the notion that Google does not see the strategic future value of those patents).

The most interesting part of the article, however, was how arrived as his position:

Back in 2005, I set out to write a series of articles on patent trolls, so-called individuals who preyed on hardworking, industrious Americans with a file of flimsy patents. What I found instead was a gray area. Nearly every so-called troll turned out to have a somewhat persuasive story. Intellectual Ventures, a patent firm started by former Microsoft chief scientist Nathan Myhrvold, was staffed with fairly renowned scientists who didn’t fit the profile of people trying to make a quick buck in court.

This bit really resonated with me because I had a similar a-ha moment not long ago.  Everyone hates the image of a patent troll (a brilliant bit of rhetoric btw), but few people can actually define them when confronted with specifics.  Remarkably there is a lot of clarity, when the company is suing you however.  Then, they are obviously nothing more than trolls. 

Kanellos, however, is right.  There is a lot of gray in this area.  Intellectual Ventures is one.  Heck, some people even refer to Qualcomm as a patent troll, despite they invented most if not all of the technology they now license in house.  But patent licensing needs to be a legitimate business strategy for smaller firms most of all.

There is much to criticize about the patent and copyright systems around the world, but there is also a lot to commend.  Our time would all be better spent focusing on building a better system rather than simply tearing down the existing one .