There are lots of sexy political issues, usually following whatever George Clooney is promoting that week, and sadly patent law is not one of them. Intellectual property issues and patent law is too complex to be highlighted on billboards, and from the public’s perspective, doesn’t affect our lives too much. But the more I learn about these issues, the more I realize how much America’s patent system is hurting us economically and intellectually.

But in my research and discussions with people, I found myself challenged as to describe my position. I am not specifically anti-copyright or anti-patents and wish there was a term to describe my political position so I knew what to call the Facebook group.

I would like to recommend Pro-Innovation as the term.

Pro-Innovation has that positive marketing spin, being for something rather than against something else. And innovation is good, and in truth, the intended purpose of a patent system. Unfortunately, for all the conventional wisdom, there is no evidence that more patents helps innovation, rather it hampers innovation more than helps.

The Pro-Innovation position looks to bring back American intellectual property laws to their minimalist state as dictated by the Constitution “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Meaning any patent or copyright is granted only to promote the development or more and better stuff and only granted for a limited time (70 years after the creator dies seems a little long).

This is an extremely complex issue that I will be tackling more on Prodigeek, but I wanted to throw my suggestion in the ring. I have already trademarked Pro-Innovation and expect a quarter every time somebody says it.