Criminalising patent infringement - "barking mad"?

The BBC website today brings us the story of Trevor Baylis - "one of Britain's best-known inventors" and inventor of the wind-up radio - and his quest "to make stealing a patent a criminal offence". "That way the state, not the individual inventor, would bear the costs of going to court" to enforce the rights in a patent, explains the BBC. Mr Baylis has already written to the business secretary Lord Mandelson and has high hopes that he will be able to help.

The BBC has dutifully asked members of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys for their views. Their reactions appear to range from "...I'm not sure the criminal system is well-suited to that kind of action" to calling the potentially criminalisation of patent infringement "barking mad".

This Kat is looking forward to comments from all the patent enthusiasts out there. Any support for Mr. Baylis or has this topic been discussed too often and the answers are "clear-cat"?