Re: But What about diversity ?
I have a pal who uses Chinese and Eastern European manufacturers to supply components for assembly of his *widget* in the UK. The individual components are worthless on their own and it is not possible to determine how they will be used in isolation from the completed assembly and part of one of the Chinese manufactured components is actually deliberately removed and thrown away during UK assembly. It is by no means the most efficient manufacturing process, but it is the only way to stop them stealing designs. And that is the problem with patents - a valid patent should enable the reader to completely understand the form and function of the item such that they can create a working version of their own. Of course, observing international patent law is essentially nothing more than a gentlemans agreement and patenting an idea actually only serve to put money into a lawyers pockets - there is effectively no protection.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
