Re: [Patents] Software Patents: The Patent Trap

[Gregory Aharonian <srctran@world.std.com>]

An idiotic article.  For example,
>What if at the very same time she wrote her program, another company
>filed patent applications on the very same processes and algorithms
>she used?

Tough luck.  A chemist inventing a new chemical has to worry about the
same threat, another company filing a patent application first on the
same chemical or chemical process.  A biologist inventing a new
biotech process has to worry about the same threat, another company
filing a patent application first on the same biotech material or
process.  Same for the electronics engineer, designing a new circuit.
What happens if someone files patent applications on the same circuit
first?

So all this lame example proves is that software is yet one more
technical industry that has to deal with the promises and perils
of patents.  There is nothing special or holy about software -
just another technology to be patented.

Problems? Sure. Problems with patent quality, problems with the costs
of patent litigation.  But problems shared by biologists, chemists,
electrical engineers, software engineers, etc.  Software people just
cry about it more.  Solution.  Improve the quality of issued patents
(a solvable problem) and lower the costs of using the legal process
to correct the mistakes that do issue (a less solvable problem).

But if you are going to attack software patents, come up with a less
pathetic analogy.

Greg Aharonian