From phm@a2e.de  Sat Jan  6 18:53:59 2001
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 19:53:59 +0100 (CET)
From: PILCH Hartmut phm@a2e.de
Subject: [Patents] economic studies

>   Now, I CHALLENGE YOU to exhibit economic studies that concludes to
> the economic and technological usefulness of software patents in the
> long term.

What about the IPI study or the recent study from the Fraunhofer Society's
ISI institute?

Of course these studies do not really investigate the matter but just
reiterate some well known abstract theories about the merits of
intellectual property.  The Fraunhofer study doesn't really argue the case
for software patentability.  It just states the belief of Fraunhofer and
of the people in the "patent initiative" of the German Minstry of Science
and Education in the beneficial effect of patents in general.  Patents are
only a side issue in this study, which recommends certain "strategic"
priorities to the Ministry, the most important one being that of
promotinig Fraunhofer.

So, if someone wants to quote nice looking studies, he can of course. The
question is rather, whether there is serious argumentation for software
patents.  Greg may then say that I am biased and just won't accept
anything as "serious" that arguments pro swpat.  But the problem is that
IPI and the Fraunhofer study don't even try to argue the case.  They don't
even set out the questions that others, like Bessen & Maskin, answer
systematically in great detail.

So the challenge must be:  name us a study that does set out these
questions, answers them systematically (at a level similar to B&M) and
concludes that swpats are beneficial to progress.

-phm






