I agree that copyright won't be effective in protecting novel algorithms. That's what patents should be good for. But mostly they end up being a tool used by ex

I agree that copyright won't be effective in protecting novel algorithms. That's what patents should be good for. But mostly they end up being a tool used by extortionists who produce nothing, parasites basically making the whole system sick. In their current implementation, whether the patent duration changes or not, they're horribly broken. I suspect we agree there. That's typically common ground in the software business. But I would go further and say that patents are largely a waste of time and money for startups. With some exceptions, the Swype patent being one. The things is unless you have a novel algorithm for which there is no substitutions, it grants you very little protection. For example, I have a novel database index algorithm that uses SIMD instructions to do more operations in parallel. But if I patented it, it would largely be a distraction from the insanely complex task of building a full database product and a successful business model and sales channel around it. Sure that algorithm might give me an enduring performance edge over the competition, in the best case scenario. But whether my competitors copy that innovation or not, it's such a small part of the whole, and one for which there are plenty of substitutes - even if somehow mine happens to be the best (the odds are against that!) it's still a minor contribution and likely a waste of resources to patent. You'd need something that's core to the business and which you can't substitute. If you have an invention like that, by all means patent it. By and large that's rare though. And the whole system is so terrible, so utterly broken, so abused by bad actors and corrupt courts (District of East Texas, I'm looking at you!) It's impossible to write any substantial amount of code that doesn't infringe patents. So basically everyone infringes, and some have the bad luck that others will use that to extort money from them. I wish the whole system would die in a fire. I've often wondered how I would react if that happened to me. I'd probably find the cheapest lawyer I could in the district hearing the case, and instruct him to draw the proceedings out to the maximum possible extent - run up the bill as high as possible for the bastards.