6 ms·

What is your basis for this claim? Was there a survey?

by ken 7y ago

deogeo 7y ago
Just the impression I got from the general developer community, and articles such as https://www.infoworld.com/article/2619609/why-software-patents-are-evil.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2619609/why-software-paten...
- jacques_chester 7y ago
  The exposure to the patent system for most developers is seeing egregious examples being used by patent trolls. Then there's the confusion between design patents and utility patents. So yes, I would say most folks find them distasteful, for the same reason that most folks overestimate crime rates.
  - dboreham 7y ago
    Most developers I know (at least the senior ones) are named inventors on several patents so I doubt your theory that engineers don't understand the space.
    - jacques_chester 7y ago
      Most developers I know are not named inventors on any patents. It's not so much about understanding the space, it's about the mental availability of examples used to estimate the general state of the world. People who watch TV news regularly overestimate the crime rate. Why? Because TV media focuses on the dramatic and attention-grabbing -- "if it bleeds, it leads". No effort is made to present a statistically valid sample of reality. Nobody is publishing "little old lady walks home safely for two thousandth time". Similarly for patents. There are millions. Which ones get press? It's not a perfectly random sample, what we see is the absurd and outrageous examples, ones which deserve criticism and anger. But if you base your estimate of the entire system on examples chosen specifically because they will arouse anger, then you have an inaccurate estimate. Because "patent for neat idea lives quiet life until expiry" or "patent amicably licensed on reasonable terms" or "patent application invalidated by prior art during examination" don't make it to the front page of HN.

6 ms·

What is your basis for this claim? Was there a survey?

by ken 7y ago

What is your basis for this claim? Was there a survey?

deogeo 7y ago
Just the impression I got from the general developer community, and articles such as https://www.infoworld.com/article/2619609/why-software-patents-are-evil.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2619609/why-software-paten...
- jacques_chester 7y ago
  The exposure to the patent system for most developers is seeing egregious examples being used by patent trolls. Then there's the confusion between design patents and utility patents. So yes, I would say most folks find them distasteful, for the same reason that most folks overestimate crime rates.
  - dboreham 7y ago
    Most developers I know (at least the senior ones) are named inventors on several patents so I doubt your theory that engineers don't understand the space.
    - jacques_chester 7y ago
      Most developers I know are not named inventors on any patents. It's not so much about understanding the space, it's about the mental availability of examples used to estimate the general state of the world. People who watch TV news regularly overestimate the crime rate. Why? Because TV media focuses on the dramatic and attention-grabbing -- "if it bleeds, it leads". No effort is made to present a statistically valid sample of reality. Nobody is publishing "little old lady walks home safely for two thousandth time". Similarly for patents. There are millions. Which ones get press? It's not a perfectly random sample, what we see is the absurd and outrageous examples, ones which deserve criticism and anger. But if you base your estimate of the entire system on examples chosen specifically because they will arouse anger, then you have an inaccurate estimate. Because "patent for neat idea lives quiet life until expiry" or "patent amicably licensed on reasonable terms" or "patent application invalidated by prior art during examination" don't make it to the front page of HN.