the patent system is actually becoming a net disincentive to innovation, especially software. We hope Congress and the Supreme Court are paying attention. Don'

the patent system is actually becoming a net disincentive to innovation, especially software. We hope Congress and the Supreme Court are paying attention. Don't blame the Supreme Court. They were paying attention 39 years ago with Gottschalk v. Benson. http://supreme.justia.com/us/409/63/case.html http://supreme.justia.com/us/409/63/case.html They reluctantly outlawed patents on software for general-purpose digital computers. I say reluctantly, because they really thought Congress should be addressing the question. "The technological problems tendered in the many briefs before us [Footnote 7] indicate to us that considered action by the Congress is needed." Confusingly, they were overruled by a lower court (Federal Circuit: In re. Alappat, State Street Bank & Trust v. Signature Financial Group). More on this at http://ourdoings.com/ourdoings-startup/2011-07-28 http://ourdoings.com/ourdoings-startup/2011-07-28 One interesting note in all this is that even in 1972 they knew that it was impossible to expect the patent office to rigorously review software patents. Gottschalk v. Benson quotes the President's Commission on the Patent System as follows: "The Patent Office now cannot examine applications for programs because of a lack of a classification technique and the requisite search files. Even if these were available, reliable searches would not be feasible or economic because of the tremendous volume of prior art being generated. Without this search, the patenting of programs would be tantamount to mere registration, and the presumption of validity would be all but nonexistent."