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[News] Software Patents Seem as Weak/Moot After re Bilski Ruling

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Software Method Claims: Bilski in light of Benson

,----[ Quote ]
| It is important to remember that the Supreme Court's decision in Gottschalk 
| v. Benson is still controlling law. In that 1972 decision, the Supreme Court 
| held unpatentable a method of converting a signal from "binary coded decimal" 
| into "binary." The Benson method operates by using a "reentrant shift 
| register" – a particular electronic memory circuit of the day. The rejected 
| claim reads as follows:     
| 
| [...]
| 
| Thus under Bilski/Benson, tying a software algorithm to particular computer 
| hardware may well be unpatentable subject matter if the patent would still 
| preclude all practical uses of the otherwise unpatentable algorithm.  
`----

http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2008/11/software-method.html

This is still very important. The interpretations vary. Without patents,
Microsoft has just years to live before it's the next SGI.


Recent:

Economist Critic of Software Patents gets Nobel Prize

,----[ Quote ]
| The FFII congratulates Eric S. Maskin, an economist who has long criticised
| the patenting of software, for receiving the 2007 Nobel Prize for Economics.
| Prof. Maskin and two colleagues receive the Prize for research into the
| optimal design of economic mechanisms. By applying his theory to the IT
| sector, Maskin demonstrated "that in such a dynamic industry, patent
| protection may reduce overall innovation and welfare."
`----

http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/Economist_Critic_of_Software_Patents_gets_Nobel_Prize


Intellectual Property Regime Stifles Science and Innovation, Nobel Laureates
Say

,----[ Quote ]
| Patent monopolies are believed to drive innovation but they actually impede
| the pace of science and innovation, Stiglitz said. The current “patent
| thicket,” in which anyone who writes a successful software programme is sued
| for alleged patent infringement, highlights the current IP system’s failure
| to encourage innovation, he said.
|
| Another problem is that the social returns from innovation do not accord with
| the private returns associated with the patent system, Stiglitz said. The
| marginal benefit from innovation is that an idea may become available sooner
| than it might have. But the person who secures the patent on it wins a
| long-term monopoly, creating a gap between private and social returns.
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http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1129
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