Open source launches attack on software patents
,----[ Quote ]
| In a statement, ESP Executive Director Ben Klemens said, "This is an historic
| opportunity to fix the U.S. patent system, as the Bilski rehearing will
| directly address the boundaries of the subject matter of patents. In our
| brief, the End Software Patents project supports the Supreme Court's
| long-held position that computer software should not be patentable, and has
| highlighted to the Court the real economic harm software patents cause the
U.S. economy."
`----
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS4465262350.html
Red Hat Says U.S. Patent System Is Broken
,----[ Quote ]
| This week Red Hat filed with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to
| carefully examine the state of software patents in the country. According to
| Red Hat, a company ripe with support for open source software, software
| patents are being issued at an alarming rate, and many of them are obvious
| ideas that should not have passed the patent desk to begin with.
`----
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/redhat-patent-lawsuit,news-961.html
An opportunity to End Software Patents: ESP briefs Court in its historic
rehearing of the Bilski case
,----[ Quote ]
| End Software Patents (ESP) has filed an amicus curiae brief in the Court of
| Appeals for the Federal Circuit's (CAFC) rehearing of the In re Bilski case.
`----
http://blue-gnu.biz/content/opportunity_end_software_patents_esp_briefs_court_its_historic_rehearing_bilski_case
EFF Asks Court to Limit What Is Patentable
,----[ Quote ]
| In re Bilski is an appellate court case that provides an opportunity to
| eliminate business method patents and curtail efforts to claim monopolies on
| basic human skills, behaviors, and interactions. Bilski is challenging the
| rejection of his application for a patent on a method of managing the risk of
| bad weather through commodities trading.
`----
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/04/bilski
Related and recent:
Microsoft Told to Pay Alcatel-Lucent $368 Million
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, was told to pay $368
| million after a jury found it infringed two patents owned by Alcatel-Lucent
| SA for touch- screen form entry and use of a stylus on computers.
`----
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=axahvgWQPnX8&refer=news
Bush Administration Speaks Against Patent Overhaul
,----[ Quote ]
| U.S. Senate negotiators are getting closer to hammering out disagreements
| that are holding up a patent system overhaul, but President George Bush's
| administration still has concerns about the bill, an administration official
| said Friday.
|
| [...]
|
| In order for the USPTO to improve the quality of patents granted, "the system
| must focus on the quality of applications," Secretary of Commerce Carlos
| Gutierrez said in a letter to senators dated Thursday. "Stated simply, our
| innovation system can no longer afford the time and the cost of heavily
| subsidizing poor quality patent applications, which crowd out our most
| important innovations."
|
| Each applicant applications costs the USPTO US$4,200, while basic filing fees
| are under $1,000, Dudas added. "It's very easy to apply for something while
| doing only minimal work," he said.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144179-pg,1/article.html
|
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