re: UK software company kicked out of US

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

Rik asks:
>I can't see how Greg would justify software patents in the EU when it
>would just stifle innovation in more places than one...

First, there is ZERO statistical or economic data that shows that
software patents stifle innovation any more than patents in other
areas of technology.  I assume Rik is a programmer, and would
suggest that he talk to people in other industries where patents
are one part of business strategy.  Indeed, it would be hard to
measure such a minor effect in light of issues (like the dot-com
crash) that affect the economics of the software industry.  Since
there is nothing holy about software, much like other industries
that have to deal with patents, so too does software.

Second, the observation about the UK company was meant to illustrate
the global nature of these issues.  Europe is free to abandon logic
and reason and deny patents for software.  But if European companies
want to be players in foreign markets (especially the US, Japan, China
and Australia) where software patenting is alive and kicking, then
European companies are going to have to have patenting strategies
in those countries.  The point of my poem was that it is always
cheaper and more cost effective to start your patenting strategies
in your home country, much more cheaper.  And have foreign patents
are no guarantee of success, as the UK company's plight showed -
even with US patents, it still lost.

And frankly, I think more European businesspeople are realizing that
the current Euroepan patent policies in areas like software and
business methods, are a form of unilateral disarmament.  So, now that
I think of it, I STRONGLY URGE EUROPE TO REJECT SOFTWARE AND BUSINESS
METHOD PATENTS IN ALL FORMS.  And while you are at it, Europe should
also have mandatory 20 hour work weeks, four months of paid vacations,
and should double their agricultural subsidies.

Greg Aharonian