[Patents] Economic assessment

[Edward Avis epa98@doc.ic.ac.uk]

On Mon, 27 Nov 2000, Gregory Aharonian wrote:

>So if Hartmut would like to apologize to me for continuing to be
>so insulting, and to everyone else on this list for exposing them
>to his insults,

Come on now... 'troll' isn't really an insult in the context of mailing
lists or newsgroups.

>I would be inclined to provide serious counter
>arguments, starting with the fact that there is no a-priori reason
>why the patent system of the 21st century should not be adapted to
>protect the informational, the leading TECHNOLOGIES of the day,
>just as the MECHANICAL was the leading technologies of the 19th
>century, and the ELECTRICAL/CHEMICAL was the leading technologies
>of the 20th century.

No a priori reason why not; but the burden of proof is on those who
claim that twenty-year monopolies _should_ be granted.  At least this is
what the US Consitution specifies (to promote progress in science...)
and I would expect similar criteria to apply in Europe.

There are certainly arguments that software patenting would be
beneficial, but in my opinion (and, it seems, in the opinion of
economists) they are outweighed by the disadvantages.  If you want to
start discussing (on the basis of benefit to society, not of patent-law
dogma) whether software patents are a net gain, please go ahead.

>If the expressionist elements of hardware
>and software are protectable by copyright, and if the functional
>elements of hardware are protectable by patents, especially in
>light of hardware/software codesign tools, the functional elements
>of software are and should be protectable as well,

There's that 'should' word.

I don't think that the fact that the patent system works in a particular
way for hardware is sufficient reason to apply it in the same way (or
what patent offices might consider to be the same way) to software.  We
don't have patent laws for the sake of having a neat and tidy patent
system.  We have them to promote progress and the spread of knowledge.
On this basis, I believe that software patents run counter to the
intent of the patent system.

-- 
Ed Avis
epa98@doc.ic.ac.uk