IBM files for patent on offshoring jobs

[notesdev]

Posted: March 30, 2009 - 2:00 AM

As IBM was firing thousands of American workers last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published Big Blue's application to copyright a computerized system that calculates how to offshore jobs while maximizing government tax breaks.

Update: IBM withdraws its application, calling it an error.

In their application to patent a "method and system for strategic global resource sourcing," five Hudson Valley IBMers describe how it weighs such plans as "50 percent of resources in China by 2010," against such factors as labor costs, infrastructure and the "minimum head count to qualify for incentives."

The five Westchester County inventors, Ching-hua Chen-ritzo, Daniel Patrick Connors, Markus Ettl, Mayank Sharma, and Karthik Sourirajan, submitted the application to the patent office in September 2007, but it took a year and a half for that patent to be published online.

None could be reached by telephone Sunday except Ching-hua Chen-ritzo of Mahopac, who declined to comment, and attempts to reach IBM were unsuccessful.

Lee Conrad, national coordinator for Alliance@IBM, a group trying to unionize Big Blue, was stunned to learn of the application.

"This is obviously outrageous — a patent on how to offshore U.S. jobs," Conrad said. "IBM is obviously doing all it can to decimate the U.S. work force, and it is all the more reason why IBM should not get any tax breaks or stimulus money. They clearly are abandoning the U.S. work force."

The application says the system weighs moving into or out of a particular country against criteria such as wages, political systems, "incentive contracts" and the economic impact of "violating and/or satisfying those incentives."

In January, IBM reported that about 115,000, or 29 percent, of its global work force of about 400,000, is in the United States.


http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090330/BIZ/903300315

[lostnotforgotten]

1. And Just Remember That Repugs And DLC Dems Support Off-Shoring

All in the name of globalization.

[GoesTo11]

2. This could be a good thing or at least a good idea

If IBM has a patent on it, other companies would have to pay them a license fee before offshoring jobs, so they'd be less likely to do so. In fact, since this was a pretty specific patent app, and since IBM withdrew it anyway, how about if someone opposed to offshoring puts gets a broad patent and then demands an exorbitant fee for any company doing it.

[October]

3. Are you kidding, companies would gladly pay

The only things (!) they hate paying are workers!

[GoesTo11]

4. Better they pay a huge tax to do it than doing it for free

Make it harder using a legal system. Companies often use patents to restrict each other rather than to advance anything. Charge them a licensing fee of $1 million per worker outsourced.

[Octafish]

5. IBM helped the NAZIs computerize the holocaust.

They still put the interests of power over of those of people.

Thanks, notesdev. Very important information.

[RagAss]

8. Amen !

[InkAddict]

6. A patent? I suspect this was software was burned to CD and tossed in every

CEO/BOD party goodie bag at those "leadership" retreats, free, and mislabeled "Mood Music." Surely, IBM didn't want to be lonely in those strange lands.

[leveymg]

7. Patent ap was on software to calculate costs of various outsourcing options - not on outsourcing

itself. You can't patent a management model, just specific products or, as in this case, proprietary methods used to carry out a business plan.

Congress and the Administration can change the basic calcus of costs/benefits of outsoucing by simply changing the tax code.

Good catch, notesdev.