[Patents] Some remarks on Vol 1 #284

[Steve Probert steve.probert@patent.gov.uk]

>That's fine and dandy, now I'm a software engineer, I might release
>something open source or not so free software written by yours truly
>himself, and now, suddenly, I have to be aware of any of the 13'000
>patents available, most of which, even if they pertain to my profession, I
>could'nt even comprehend. (Me non parlare lawyerspeak).

>There's something silly about this.

But the same argument applies with equal force to almost all fields of 
invention. Following this argument to its logical conclusion would mean that 
patents (not just software patents) should only be owned by, and enforced 
against, large companies.  Apart from being a nightmare to implement in 
practice, this could easily prevent small companies from growing into larger 
companies.

Steve Probert