America's patent system is a mess. The four-year-long fight between BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and NTP, a small patent-holding firm, is just the latest illustration of the myriad ways in which the patent process malfunctions in this country. NTP, which holds several patents that it claims Black-Berry's wireless technology infringes, is in a position to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from RIM as a price for not shutting down BlackBerry's system. As of press time BlackBerrys are still humming, but the legal fight drags on. Is this any way for a capitalist economy to treat one of its most effective new inventions? Of course not. The U.S. ought to chuck this 18th-century relic and start all over again. Here's what the ideal system would look like.
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机译：美国的专利制度一团糟。黑莓制造商Research In Motion与一家小型专利持有公司NTP进行了长达四年的斗争，这只是该国专利处理失灵的各种方式的最新例证。拥有多项专利的NTP声称可以侵犯Black-Berry的无线技术，而NTP可以从RIM处获得数亿美元的收益，以此作为不关闭BlackBerry系统的代价。截至发稿时，黑莓手机仍在嗡嗡作响，但法律斗争仍在继续。对于资本主义经济来说，这是处理其最有效的新发明之一的任何方式吗？当然不是。美国应该抛弃这个18世纪的遗物，然后重新开始。这是理想系统的外观。
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