Re: [Patents] re: UK software company kicked out of US

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

Once again, Hartmut relies on lies to make a point:
>Greg seems to be recommending that Europe must follow the US lead in
>lowering "patent quality".  Since you need to have low quality patents
>in US, JP, CN, etc., it is best to have them at home also.

Nice lie.  I have never recommended that anyone seek or rely on low
quality patents, and have argued for years for patent offices to 
improve the quality of issued patents (which would lead to far less
software patents issuing, amongst other things).

My recommendation is that if European companies wish to compete in the
US markets, they are going to have to adopt some of the patenting
strategies of the US.  Otherwise, you are going to be in a worse position
than the UK company.  For European companies, that means acquiring
software and business method patents in the US.  You may decry their
existence or their quality, but they do exist, then you will need to
acquire some of your own.  Given that it is easier to file foreign
patents (for example, through the PCT system) if you already have
patents filed in your home country (where you can do much of the 
initial patent filing using your local lawyers and in your local
language), if European companies are going to need software and business
method patents to compete in the US, it seems to be in their best
interests to be able to file their initial patent applications at home.
The reasons are purely due to minimizing costs.

These are business considerations - try running a real business someday
to understand this better.

Greg Aharonian