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No, it doesn’t. The ban against software patents is to prevent things like “X, but using software” from being patented. A good example is Sonos’ patent on contr

No, it doesn’t. The ban against software patents is to prevent things like “X, but using software” from being patented. A good example is Sonos’ patent on controlling the volume of multiple speakers from an app. That’s just a dumb patent. Video encoding is very complex and non-obvious. Personally, I see the argument for patent protection.

speedgoose 3y ago
I don't know. The sonos patent is stupid indeed, but I could see how it got accepted as it's about hardware speakers with some software control, which can be patented. But h265 looks purely algorithmic to me. Perhaps the patent is about using dedicated hardware decoders, but I'm not sure how that would impact Netflix. Netflix is software on the consumer side.
- thfuran 3y ago
  >But h265 looks purely algorithmic to me So are patents of physical devices. Those algorithm just uses levers or whatever.
  - GoblinSlayer 3y ago
    Physical devices don't work according to made up rules, they work on their own rules.
orra 3y ago
Video encoding and decoding is complex, but can in principle be done by hand. An electronic computer is simply faster and more accurate. Don't forget that the first computers were teams of humans.
- nickelpro 3y ago
  Yes, and the algorithm itself, whether by hand or on a computer, is patentable. What is not patentable is taking a previously existing algorithm, prior-art, and claiming patentable novelty by performing that algorithm on a computer.
panzi 3y ago
So you're saying an algorithm is a mathematical method? > The European Patent Convention (EPC), Article 52, paragraph 2, excludes from patentability, in particular > 1. discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
- duckmysick 3y ago
  It's more complicated than that. From the European Patent Convention guidelines: https://www.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-epc/2023/g_ii_3_3.html https://www.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-epc/2023/g_ii_3_3.ht... > The exclusion applies if a claim is directed to a purely abstract mathematical method and the claim does not require any technical means. For instance, a method for performing a Fast Fourier Transform on abstract data which does not specify the use of any technical means is a mathematical method as such. [...] > If a claim is directed either to a method involving the use of technical means (e.g. a computer) or to a device, its subject-matter has a technical character as a whole and is thus not excluded from patentability under Art. 52(2) and (3). [...] > When assessing the contribution made by a mathematical method to the technical character of an invention, it must be taken into account whether the method, in the context of the invention, produces a technical effect serving a technical purpose. > Examples of technical contributions of a mathematical method are: [...] > - encoding data for reliable and/or efficient transmission or storage (and corresponding decoding), e.g. error-correction coding of data for transmission over a noisy channel, compression of audio, image, video or sensor data;

speedgoose 3y ago

I don't know. The sonos patent is stupid indeed, but I could see how it got accepted as it's about hardware speakers with some software control, which can be patented. But h265 looks purely algorithmic to me. Perhaps the patent is about using dedicated hardware decoders, but I'm not sure how that would impact Netflix. Netflix is software on the consumer side.

thfuran 3y ago
>But h265 looks purely algorithmic to me So are patents of physical devices. Those algorithm just uses levers or whatever.
- GoblinSlayer 3y ago
  Physical devices don't work according to made up rules, they work on their own rules.

orra 3y ago

Video encoding and decoding is complex, but can in principle be done by hand. An electronic computer is simply faster and more accurate. Don't forget that the first computers were teams of humans.

nickelpro 3y ago
Yes, and the algorithm itself, whether by hand or on a computer, is patentable. What is not patentable is taking a previously existing algorithm, prior-art, and claiming patentable novelty by performing that algorithm on a computer.

panzi 3y ago

So you're saying an algorithm is a mathematical method? > The European Patent Convention (EPC), Article 52, paragraph 2, excludes from patentability, in particular > 1. discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;

duckmysick 3y ago
It's more complicated than that. From the European Patent Convention guidelines: https://www.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-epc/2023/g_ii_3_3.html https://www.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-epc/2023/g_ii_3_3.ht... > The exclusion applies if a claim is directed to a purely abstract mathematical method and the claim does not require any technical means. For instance, a method for performing a Fast Fourier Transform on abstract data which does not specify the use of any technical means is a mathematical method as such. [...] > If a claim is directed either to a method involving the use of technical means (e.g. a computer) or to a device, its subject-matter has a technical character as a whole and is thus not excluded from patentability under Art. 52(2) and (3). [...] > When assessing the contribution made by a mathematical method to the technical character of an invention, it must be taken into account whether the method, in the context of the invention, produces a technical effect serving a technical purpose. > Examples of technical contributions of a mathematical method are: [...] > - encoding data for reliable and/or efficient transmission or storage (and corresponding decoding), e.g. error-correction coding of data for transmission over a noisy channel, compression of audio, image, video or sensor data;