Von Hippel on patents (regarding the what Apple vs. HTC patent case could mean) – NYT…

Eric Von Hippel, a professor of technological innovation at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management, noted that “only 5 percent of these types of cases actually go through the judicial system.” Even for a company like Apple, he said, they are just too expensive.

Mr. Von Hippel also said that these lawsuits pointed to a bigger problem with the patent system. “It’s a bad scene right now. The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation — that’s what society gets out of it,” he said. “The net effect is that they decrease innovation, and in the end, the public loses out.”