[Patents] Some remarks on Vol 1 #284

[Nicolas MONNET nico@monnet.to]

On Wed, 11 Oct 2000, Steve Probert wrote:

|Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 10:08:49 +0100
|From: Steve Probert <steve.probert@patent.gov.uk>
|To: patents@liberte.aful.org
|Subject: Re: [Patents] Some remarks on Vol 1 #284
|
|>The whole thing is about software patents; I'm not aware of any other
|>field where this is that much of a problem. 
|
|You might be before too long.  The problem (?) in this area arises
|because the software industry is still relatively young, and because (in
|general) it has been slow to realise that patents are available to
|protect certain inventions in the programming field (eg. those that
|produce, or are capable of producing, a technical effect).  
|Consequently programmers have traditionally not been concerned about
|whether their programs infringe a patent.  We may see a similar reaction
|from other sectors if some of the currently excluded fields (eg business
|methods) are brought into the patent system.

Young? I don't see it as being any younger than the microelectronics
industry, which seems to have lots of genuinely useful and relevant
patents.

Besides the cost of software development has gone down, not up; tools are
there to simplify to some extent, and the initial cost is negligeable --
as opposed to what it was 30 years ago.