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Hacking through the Software Patent Thickets
,----[ Quote ]
| Most people in the hacking community are
| well aware that patents represent one of
| the most serious threats to free software.
| But the situation is actually even worse
| than it seems, thanks to the proliferation
| of what are called patent thickets. To
| understand why these are so bad, and why
| they represent a particular problem for
| software, it is necessary to go back to
| the beginning of patent law.
|
| The patent thicket As their name implies,
| patents are about making something
| âpatentâ, or public, so that others can
| use and build on an invention â but only
| after a certain period, during which time
| the patent-holder has a monopoly right
| (what kind of right is discussed below).
| Indeed, the origin of British patent law â
| and of many anglophone countries that base
| their law on this tradition â is the 1623
| Statute of Monopolies.
`----
http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Hacking-through-the-Software-Patent-Thickets-1006091.html
German Supreme Court software patent decision "not a landmark ruling", says expert
,----[ Quote ]
| Yesterday I reported on a blog posting
| from the well-known European anti-software
| patent campaigner Florian Mueller about a
| recent decision of the German Supreme
| Court which he said would open to the door
| to many more software patent grants (and
| litigation) in Germany. At the end of the
| piece I stated that if I were involved in
| the software industry I would be looking
| to get some clarificaiton on developments
| from a German patent attorney.
`----
http://www.iam-magazine.com/blog/detail.aspx?g=8c78d4b3-2c14-45e8-98af-9ebb0278d0ee
Recent:
Wait, Editing An XML Document Is Patented And Worth $98 Per Application?
,----[ Quote ]
| A bunch of folks sent in variations on the story about Microsoft losing a
| patent infringement lawsuit to the tune of $200 million to a small Toronto
| firm (the ruling also came right on the heals of another ruling against
| Microsoft in a patent case, for $388 million).
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090526/0238335008.shtml
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