5 ms·
Why is a software engineer’s work product any less important than a mechanical engineer’s or an electrical engineer’s?
by patentatt 7y ago
Why is a software engineer’s work product any less important than a mechanical engineer’s or an electrical engineer’s?
- jlokier 7y agoIt's not less important. It is important. That's why software engineers want to be allowed to do their work without a silly patent system blocking their work. Software is a medium in which patentable "inventions" come naturally to software engineers at a very high rate, often the same ideas as each other in response to the same problems. (This suggests they aren't really rare insights at all and shouldn't be patentable, but the standard is too low for that.) Sometimes tens or hundreds of patent-grade "inventions" a week for a great software engineer. It isn't even possible for a great software engineer to know if what they are writing infringes on patents, existing or pending. It's just too difficult because of the high rate of duplicate "inventions" that come naturally. Mechanical and electrical engineers also have great ideas and are blocked by patents. But the rate at which new, patentable ideas come to individuals in those fields seems to be lower, perhaps because it takes longer to actually make things, perhaps other reasons. Maybe even just because there are so many software engineers that duplication is unavoidable.
- waffle_ss 7y agoBecause code is math, and patenting math is nonsensical. Should Maxwell have been able to patent his equations? The question is ill-formed.