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October 23, 2012 On today's show, we talk with a Stanford law professor about the problems with software patents — and how to fix the system.

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September 10, 2012 Industrial designers are conflicted over the impact a jury's decision that Samsung infringed on many of Apple's mobile phone patents. Some say it might cramp creativity. Others say it will free them from having to make designs that look just like Apple's.

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August 31, 2012 Hanging out with meat inventors, cutting up chickens, and thinking about patents and innovation.

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August 30, 2012 A meat inventor demonstrates U.S. patent 5,346,711. Invented in a converted garage, now available at a Popeye's near you.

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August 25, 2012 The legal win over Samsung, and the more than $1 billion in damages awarded, could send rival phone makers scrambling to make their products less "Apple-like."

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August 24, 2012 Eugene Gagliardi also invented KFC's popcorn chicken. And he's got some ideas about drumsticks.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

August 2, 2012 IBM and Halliburton may be trying to do an end-run around patent litigation — by patenting it.

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July 31, 2012 This week's Apple-Samsung case is just the latest battle in a global war over high-tech patents. Judges, it seems, are getting fed up.

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May 22, 2012 Meat researchers say they've discovered a new steak. "It's an un-obvious chunk of meat that has been sitting there — a little diamond surrounded by a bunch of coal."

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April 23, 2012 Eric Von Hippel of MIT explains why so many Americans are inventing new products at home, even though the odds of commercial success are stacked against them.

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March 13, 2012 Yahoo says it patented on the whole idea of Facebook. In polls, most software engineers say the patent system actually hinders innovation.

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September 12, 2011 In the first hour of Talk of the Nation, the influence of the Tea Party, and Simon Schama explains what makes a successful memorial. In the second hour, a bill that would speed the process of patenting ideas, and the changing portrayal of men on television.

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August 2, 2011 Patents are supposed to promote innovation. But in the world of software and the Internet, they're having precisely the opposite effect.

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