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Probably the best argument against software patents is the way they are implemented. The patent office is doing a horrible job at determining which patents to

by boucher 19y ago

Probably the best argument against software patents is the way they are implemented. The patent office is doing a horrible job at determining which patents to grant. Just look at Amazon's one click patent, or at the thousands of patents granted to patent trolls for things like "lists of media that are customized to a specific user". I kid you not, the last company I worked at was being sued for presenting users with song recommendations because it violated a patent on "customized lists". The other major issue I see is that software companies don't care about patents. Very few patents are enforced by large companies, because its not worth it. Not to mention, you can't do basically anything anymore without infringing on someone's patent. They've become a sort of mutually assured destruction mechanism that companies build up with the pretext of being able to counter sue anyone who sues them.

cperciva 19y ago
The patent office is doing a horrible job at determining which patents to grant. Absolutely. I've seen lots of good software patents -- patents which are inventive, useful, and benefit the world by being published. The patent which covers rsync is a perfect example -- anything which is worth half of a PhD thesis when it is rediscovered a few years later certainly qualifies as "novel" in my opinion. I've also seen a lot of very bad patents -- patents which cover "inventions" which were already well known in the field, patents which take a well-understood practice and add a formulaic "over the internet", patents which are written in such a manner as to not actually disclose anything about the invention being patented, et cetera. The patent system needs to be reformed so as to stop granting so many bad patents; but I absolutely believe that software patents could be a net positive if they were implemented properly.
- TheTarquin 19y ago
  "The patent office is doing a horrible job at determining which patents to grant." This could also be because, as Charles Duell, the head of the Patent Office pointed out at the end of the 19th century, "Everything that can be invented has been invented." ... Okay, so the internet is now telling my that that's probably apocryphal, (http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/22779.html http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/22779.html)but it still makes for an amusing quote. And I'm not one to let reality get in the way of humor. :-P

by boucher 19y ago

cperciva 19y ago

The patent office is doing a horrible job at determining which patents to grant. Absolutely. I've seen lots of good software patents -- patents which are inventive, useful, and benefit the world by being published. The patent which covers rsync is a perfect example -- anything which is worth half of a PhD thesis when it is rediscovered a few years later certainly qualifies as "novel" in my opinion. I've also seen a lot of very bad patents -- patents which cover "inventions" which were already well known in the field, patents which take a well-understood practice and add a formulaic "over the internet", patents which are written in such a manner as to not actually disclose anything about the invention being patented, et cetera. The patent system needs to be reformed so as to stop granting so many bad patents; but I absolutely believe that software patents could be a net positive if they were implemented properly.

TheTarquin 19y ago
"The patent office is doing a horrible job at determining which patents to grant." This could also be because, as Charles Duell, the head of the Patent Office pointed out at the end of the 19th century, "Everything that can be invented has been invented." ... Okay, so the internet is now telling my that that's probably apocryphal, (http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/22779.html http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/22779.html)but it still makes for an amusing quote. And I'm not one to let reality get in the way of humor. :-P