[Patents] Re: [Patents] Re: [Patents] AGAINST PATENTS - from Critto from Poland

[Gregory Aharonian srctran@world.std.com]

>a "No software patents" campaign is a good idea

Despite being one of the biggest critics of the incompetence of patent
offices (PTO/EPO/JPO) in examining software patents, this campaign is a
waste of time, bordering on idiotic.  There is no way to statutorily
define "software" cleanly enough to allow such patents to then be
banned.

For example, hardware/software codesign philosophy and tools pretty
much render moot any actual distinction between software and hardware,
especially in light of representation languages like VHDL and Verilog.
So to ban software patents would require banning hardware patent as
well.  Additionally, software patents were for some time "banned" in
the US as mathematical algorithms (in light of court rulings), but
still patented by crafty drafting of patent claims (usually by throwing
in hardware into the claim).

And occasionally, there is the totally novel and unobivous software
idea (but not the 20,000+ a year according to the USPTO) worthy of
being protected by a patent.

So the solution is to fix the system (which can be easily done),
instead of these cute but pointless campaigns.

Greg Aharonian