[Patents] Greg upset about "peace, love, linux"

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

>From: Gregory Aharonian <srctran@world.std.com>

>Subject: Re:  [Patents] Greg upset about "peace, love, linux"
>
>>How has been IBM been abusing the software patent system?

>It was published in the March 17, 1997 issue of Business Week
>magazine, and talks about the many companies that IBM has asserted its
>large, mostly invalid (and therefore hard to fight off) patent
>portfolio to earn hundreds of millions of dollars a year in royalties.

But you have yourself on this list argued for a legalization of
software patents as soon as possible in Europe, *before* fixing the
examination process to weed out trivial patents (which we all of us
agree are harmful).  You have rejected the suggestion that changing the
EPC and other laws should wait until after the patent offices have
demonstrably improved their ability to examine swpat applications.

Wouldn't this leave a 'window' between the legalization of patents
on software and such time as the examination procedure gets cleaned up?
I mean a time during which IBM could apply for and use trivial software
patents, and use those already granted?  Juding by the progress patent
offices have made so far, this window might be several years.

Wouldn't that allow IBM to further abuse the patent system, and wouldn't
that be a bad thing?

Will you not support the position that no further extension of the
patent system to software should be made *until and unless* safeguards
are in place to stop this kind of 'abuse'?

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