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> If you believe patents make any economic sense ~80% of programmers don't think software patents make sense. Did you see the design patents at issue here?
by indolering 10y ago
> If you believe patents make any economic sense
~80% of programmers don't think software patents make sense.
Did you see the design patents at issue here? It's literally rounded edges and a grid-like UI for apps.
>then the term patent troll is basically just an epithet meant for rhetorical effect.
The term came about due to corporate lawyers taking issue with using the term "extortionists".
> They're simply exposing fundamental flaws in the patent system. I fear that focusing on so-called patent trolls will simply result in superficial legislative and judicial solutions.
Agreed, we should settle for nothing less than ending patents on software, especially when the cost of reproduction is nil.
- Animats 10y agoAt least 80% of programmers have never invented anything significantly new.
- crazy2be 10y agoThat may be true, but is irrelevant. Mathematics is not patentable either, and there are many "significantly new" innovations there. The position of whether software should be patentable depends mostly if you think of it like math, or like pharmaceuticals. The former requires mostly just a lot of thinking, and very little money. The latter requires massive quantities of cash, expensive equipment, trials, lawyers, etc. A large number of software patents don't even require a lot of thinking- the majority of the work goes into writing the patent, rather than the creating the system to be patented. Short patents on truly new software inventions could be overall a benefit to the software industry. But the crappy ones are unquestionably a significant drag.