Todays Wall Street Journal has a thought provoking piece on the scramble to patent as much of nanotech as possible by a variety of companies, ranging from start ups to the likes of HP.
There is no reason to suppose that investors have learned the lesson of biotech, but the sheer breadth and depth of nanotechnology makes it difficult to obtain a defensible IP position. Even if this is obtained, there are so many competing flavours of nanotechnology for each application that much IP may wind up being unable to be commercialized due to technical hurdles, or wind up as the Betamax of that particular application.
A further complication arises as many patent offices do not have the necessary expertise or resources to accurately assess claims, and take a “grant anything and leave it to the courts to decide” attitude.
As the WSJ comments “the combination of scant products to date and surging investor interest raises fears of another high-tech bubble.”
Traditionally, bubbles, or at least the debris left befind, can provide rich pickings for patent trolls.