A Little Fantasy about Intelllectual Property Law

"Counsel for the Experts, please summarize."

Mitsufuku JohnJacobs Sierpinski stood and addressed the court.

"Honorable Justices, Respected Jurors, we have heard argument for the referendum and for the counter-referendum. The parties have addressed their grievances. We have heard the Legislative Counsel declare the intent of the Constitution and of the laws, and the Executive Secretaries have addressed the current state of implementation. We have been briefed by the Amicii.

"The entire case can be summarized as follows:

"Holders of Real Property hold their properties in perpetuity. They have the privilege and duty, under law, to bequeath it to their Posterity, and thus the stewardship over the lands, seas, airspace, and mineral rights is maintained.

"Consumable properties are generated and recycled, and title passes from hand to hand, but when the current Holder of a consumable property yields his stewardships to his Posterity, consumables pass with the Real properties, as they are tangible. Thus stewardship over consumables is maintained.

"The First Democracy established Intellectual Properties originally as temporary stewardships over certain areas of the Public Commons of the Market, as they were discovered. The stewardships were generally assigned to those who could claim discovery, by means of patent, copyright, and trademark. As the First Democracy established the principles of Democratic Living, the laws concerning Intellectual Properties were refined. However, the Constitution declares that those rights must be temporary, and so we have, at the beginning of the thirty-first century of the Common Era, a situation wherein Intellectual Properties cannot be maintained in the same fashion as the tangible properties. Current law limits copyright to two thousand years from the original registration, most of which was taken during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Likewise, patent is currently limited to fifteen hundred years. Trademark can be held in perpetuity, but only by means of active maintenance of the Mark in the Marketplace.

"These limits make it difficult to establish full forward-looking value of Intellectual Properties, and makes their use as collateral for debt, or as capital base for the establishment of stocks and bonds, very difficult.

"Thus we have an imbalance, an unfairness, between the holders of tangibles and intangibles. As the Constitution demands Fairness in all human dealings, according to Amendment 211 section 419 paragraph 23, Something Must Be Done! Either we must amend the Original Constitution to allow permanent holding of Intellectual Properties, or we must declare all titles to have limits similar to those on intellectual properties.

"In any case, when a limit of title has been reached, there is always the problem of establishing a new stewardship over the Property. In truth, since we have extended the limits to their current state, we have not actually been faced with the problem, but the problem exists in theory, and, as I have shown and declared, interferes with the full use of the Properties, going forward, in the present.

"Rather than establish a situation where the stewardships over properties cannot be maintained in orderly fashion over time, we must resolve and repair this inequality by establishing permanent rights to the Intellectual Properties, even though it means amending the Original Constitution.

"As Counsel for the Experts, I direct the court to issue a court order to the Three Houses of the Legislative Assemblies to amend the Constitution to establish the authority of the Patent and Trademark Office and the Library of The Legislative Assemblies to establish permanent rights over all Intellectual Properties. I further direct the court to order further research to discover other forms of Intellectual Properties which may be established, to add value to the Economy."

Mitsufuku JohnJacobs Sierpinski sat down amid applause from the paid gallery. The unpaid gallery was quiet, as usual, as all who had applied for seating there, according to the usual due processes, were under detainment for Intent to Disturb the Peace.

The Chief Justice banged her gavel. "So has it been Said by the Experts, So is it ordered."

"All rise"

The Chief Justice stood, and all in attendance stood, as well.

"Court adjourned.

The Chief Justice stepped from behind the camera and took off the robes of office, and sat down behind her desk. With a smile, she picked up her portable communicator and paged her stock bookie.

Mitsufuku JohnJacobs Sierpinski had also stepped away from the camera in his office when his portable communicator beeped. He frowned and mumbled to himself, "Can't she show even a little patience, here?"

Then he waved his hand in the (patented) User Interface Gesture which set up the link and received the call from the (Let it be noted that she is also now officially off-duty.) Chief Justice.

"Sylvia, you know that, even with the precautions we have taken, it will take at least a few hours to get the amendments through all three houses of the legislatures."

"But, Mit-chan, can't we set up a bond on the time it takes?"

"Sorry, the Free-the-Mind League has already taken a defensive patent on that bet. Litigating the patent will take enough time to eliminate the value of the bond. I've already checked."

Sylvia swore. "I have thirty-five minutes until the first payment comes due on the loan I took out to grease the wheels and push this case through."

"That's not my problem. You can always resort, perhaps, to your skills at the oldest profession?"

"I suppose I'll probably have to. That'll mean I won't be free tonight."

"I'll make do."

"You always do."

"I have another call. Hmm. It seems to be from the Free-the-Mind League."

"Put me on monitor."

Mitsufuku JohnJacobs Sierpinski waved his hands in another patented gesture, checked the channel indicators and the monitor ear plug, and received the call. He recognized the face that was projected before him from the publicity announcement that the Free-the-Mind League put out from time to time."

"This is Mitsufuku JohnJacobs Sierpinski. How may I help you?"

"Hello. This is Richard Raymond de-Brian of the Free-the-Mind League."

"I thought I recognized your face."

"I thought I would let you know that we have obtained warrants to establish a civil case on your breach of patent 3,357,248,999,101,436,000,333."

"I didn't catch that number."

"It's in the official written notice I have just sent, along with the summary."

"Care to tell me what the offending behavior is?"

"Amending the Constitution to allow permanent Intellectual Property Rights. And it covers quite a range of activities pursuant to such amending. We have the public record, and our first count shows 31 incidents of infringement."