Originally Posted by StuartD

I think patents should be a "before the fact" thing... not an "after many years" thing.
In Acacia's case, they should not be allowed to purchase someone else's patent long after people have been using the technology, sit on it until it's profitable enough and THEN go after everyone using it for back royalties.

It should be: If you don't demand royalties right out of the gate, then you default on the precedence and miss the opportunity.

In the case of this stem cell thing, I can understand their patent... it's huge to have the patent on something like that. However, in the interest of advancement, particularly in science, there should be limitations to the authority that a patent provides. You should certainly force compensation (licensing fees) but you shouuldn't be able to just deny everyone so that you can be the only players in the field.
That's very much akin to having a monopoly in business, which we all know is not allowed either.