And specifically, im going to focus my remarks on software patents and the socalled smartphone patent wars, which have become front page news in the last year or so. See our new guidance on section 101 dealing with section 101. If the anti software patent people have their way, software patents will become worthless and there will be a self. No one can know everything, but those who dont know usually have methods to obtain knowledge yet to be acquired. For the uspto to issue a patent, the invention must be novel, nonobvious, and. Microsoft has filed for a patent on a system that would monitor the number of people watching a movie at home and prompt them to buy more licenses if a. A dim view of software patents does not make mark cuban unique, but his latest foray. These are all patented in the us patent office some of the original list of 15 were international patents but we dont mean that to be a reflection on the quality of american inventors. Decades of stupid software patents, tactlessly granted by.
These rights are granted to patent applicants in exchange for their disclosure of the inventions. Sep 28, 2018 all too often, software patents stop more innovation than they promote. I was in the field when there were no software patents. People who spot patents in need of killing post them to a stack exchange forum called ask patents, in the cory doctorow 1. Policy debate on software patents has been active for years. Killing stupid software patents is really easy, and you can. A software patent is a patent on a piece of software, such as a computer program, libraries, user interface, or algorithm.
Patents are legal instruments that can be used to sue people and companies for creating, selling, or using software. A patent is a set of exclusionary rights granted by a state to a patent holder for a limited period of time, usually 20 years. A patent on an invention that many people would easily develop independently of one another should not, it is argued, be granted since this impedes development. People have pointed out that the problem of software patents is much bigger than amazon, that other companies might have acted just the same, and that boycotting amazon wont directly change patent law. Lest the headline mislead you as to my biases, i consider software patents to be both stupid and insane. Stupid patent of the month electronic frontier foundation. Patent trolls celebrate as trumps new rules breathes fresh. Nov 12, 2009 the people at the us patent office apparently have no clue about software, which is not something to be ashamed of, but that they are too stupid to get help with problems is. When the only people defending software patents are patent holders who make. Someone is suing companies for using sms messages in 2019. The free and open source software community provides another example of software s quo without patents quid. What are the most ridiculous technology patents ever granted.
The software patent debate is the argument about the extent to which, as a matter of public policy, it should be possible to patent software and computerimplemented inventions. The quality of us patents or patents granted by the u. Debating software patents with silicon valley types is a losing battle. Reposted from the effs stupid patent of the month series. Thats according to daniel nazer, who holds the mark cuban chair to eliminate stupid patents at the. Aug 27, 2012 120 responses to apple may have won, but software patents are still evil ryan august 27, 2012 as someone who has worked with samsung, i can also add that samsung allocates money in its budget to settle patent infringement lawsuits, not just because it is a big company i. People get around this by either 1 paying royalties more rare or 2 huge companies agree not to sue each other because both infringe so many of the others patents. The concept expressed in the software is fully independent of the implementation. Jan 10, 2019 3d printing is a dumpster fire of stupid, obvious patents, but thankfully many of these are expiring. Is your head just bursting with inventive ideas well, show off your creative genius with patently stupid, the game that will turn you into a modern tom edison youll attend an exclusive, invitationonly seminar hosted by exspouses toby and lena that is only open to everyone, everywhere. Theyre the types who would stand to profit from someones nonobvious software invention not being patentable, and so most such people are unsurprisingly against software patents. This patent from 1968 is designed to help people who, for some unknown reason, might need to place a lock upon their toilet seat. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to work out who.
Software patents are controversial for many reasons. And the patent on bilateral and multilateral decision making. Software is cheap and can be built or evolved quickly as opposed to cars, flame throwers, and submarines. The opponents to software patents have gained more visibility with fewer resources through the years than their pro patent opponents. We wish we could catalog them all, but with tens of thousands of lowquality software patentsissuing every year, we dont have the time or resources to undertake that task. Software patents block standards, leading to incompatibility. Technologists have been warning against the wanton granting of software patents without fully researching prior art. Sometimes they argue that software cant be defined. People who feel disposable are quick to find another job where theyll be valued. These standards capture utility patents, which are what most people think of when they hear the word patent. These standards capture utility patents, which are what most people think. Its not because the patent examiners are stupid, its because theyre following a system, and the system has rules, and the rules lead to this result. United states and europe compared software is a global business.
But whether patent values will someday drop precipitously depends on events. Plus, they say software that is widely used ends up patented by one company or person. Patent 5,806,063, which covered a way of dealing with the y2k problem when you have a computer system that records dates using a two digit year, such as 98 for 1998. Meanwhile, some in the patent lobby are pushing to make it even easier to get broad and abstract software patents. Since software patents are no different from hardware patents, people who say software patents are evil are saying simply patents are evil. For 20 years, no developer can implement that feature without asking the patent holder, who can refuse, or ask for payment and impose conditions. All commercially produced software infringes on tons of patents.
What if we allowed some people to patent the law and then demand. If software patents were only granted to people who had invested a significant amount of work, and who had really invented something new, i would have a lot more trouble marshalling a real argument against them. This patent describes a way for software to automatically filter files. I think the problem is more with the patent office than the concept of software patents. People against software patents how is people against. This article does not attempt to clarify all the questions and uncertainties surrounding software patents but rather provide five tips or suggestions which should be kept in mind when considering patent protection of software related inventions. Thats a given most everything on this page is stupid in one way or another. The 5 most ridiculous things people tried to patent. How the current patent system actually hurts inventors.
Today there are tens of thousands of software patents and this harms everyone, because everyone uses software. Killing stupid software patents is really easy, and you. The danger of software patents gnu project free software. For the uspto to issue a patent, the invention must be novel, nonobvious, and useful. This is a significant loophole to exploit for the purpose of implementing patented ideas because patent infringement is a civil issue and not criminal. Most people will never write a book, but some people will, and society as a whole benefits from what is made by the few people who do write books or develop software. As with all final guidelines, these were later replaced with the next version of the guidelines. Why software patents are a joke literally slashdot. It seems as though some inventors simply dont think through their inventions. Mar 02, 2019 quality of patents is an important aspect of patent law. People against stupid people how is people against.
People trying to patent either one have to prove their process is more than an abstract idea. Jul 10, 2012 the core public policy behind the patent system is widely ignored, even though its extremely simple and really quite clever. Jul 05, 2017 this months stupid patent, like many stupid patents before it, simply claims the idea of using a computer for basic calculations. Then why do many people seek to patent their software related inventions. Uspto grants another stupid software patent hand in your.
And that meant people developed software, and they distributed that software in various ways, and they didnt have to worry about getting sued by patent holders for doing it, so they were safe. Innovate how the current patent system actually hurts inventors patents are intended to protect entrepreneursbut thats rarely how they work in practice. I raise this issue because it is currently rearing its ugly mug in the world of open source software, but it has affected much development in the proprietary worlds of windows as well. The battle against stupid software patents is on patent trolls extort millions from developers and entrepreneurs, but help is on the way from the eff and the supreme court. Spectacularly dumb, says vera ranieri, an attorney for the electronic frontier foundation. Critics think that software patents allow many bad software to get patented. Patent and trademark office became the subject of much ridicule in recent decades. So, without further ado, here are 10 more bizarre and stupid patents. Though there were some positive court rulings on patents this year, there.
My firm and i have quite a bit of experience with software patents and related technologies, and i even have my own software patent application pending on a. And that meant people developed software, and they distributed that software in various ways, and they didnt have to worry about getting sued by patent. An indian company selling in america is subject to software patents in respect of the products sold in america because america does have software patents. Dec 27, 2018 if they get their way, we can expect another flood of silly patents on business methods and software. An indian company can apply for software patents in america which will be valid in america, just like anyone else. There are so many stupid patents that mark cuban endowed a chair at eff. There are so many stupid patents that mark cuban endowed a chair at eff dedicated to eliminating them. Software patents create legal and financial risks that most companies cant afford. This article focuses on european patent law and how it differs from united states law in. If any component is claimed in a way that could be. The standard for usefulness is certainly the weakest of the three any possible utility, no matter how small, will suffice. Naturally, small companies and individuals dont have either option. The battle against stupid software patents is on infoworld. Oct, 2015 the way that the mark cuban chair to eliminate stupid patents i.
What many people not familiar with software dont seem to. Sometimes its about what people do when getting ready to leave. People who defend software patents say they do protect genuine. Mark cubans chair to eliminate stupid patents just got filled. Stupid patent thickets based on a lack of patented prior art. Apr 11, 2014 patents involving the use of electricity were condemned 140 years ago, as were biotechnology patents 30 years ago, and of course software patents when they began to appear in large numbers 20. If software patents were only granted to people who had invested a significant. In many cases, people can quickly get out of shape. People against software patents how is people against software patents abbreviated.
Outrageous ideas that made people ridiculously rich. He stated as off the record as he could get in a public forum his statement on software patents was written from the point of view of if software patents were a done deal and he was informed that they pretty much were, by the people asking him for a statement then there should be exclusions for free software to safeguard the common interests. The result is monopolies or only two or three companies being active in a given domain. Patents are more than just a simple incentive for people to develop. One of the core reasons is that some people view software as outside the scope of patentable subject matter. Software constantly evolves if the people involved in the project are innovative. Mark cubans chair to eliminate stupid patents just got. All too often, software patents stop more innovation than they promote.
So why do so many people complain about software patents specifically. This may not seem relevant to most people but its the same as the freedom to write a book. If trolls dont face consequences for asserting invalid software patents, then they will continue to shake down productive companies. A constitutional court ruling in south africa forbids the criminal prosecution and incarceration of people for civil debt. Very often, the entities wielding software patents are patent trollscompanies that make money off suing and threatening to sue others. We wish we could catalog them all, but with tens of thousands of lowquality software patents issuing every year, we dont have the. Pretty counterintuitive if youre trying to get people to save your info. Going back to the days of slashdot glory, people used to routinely shame patents over there. I dont think that software patents are controversial among hn community i remember reading comments to some threads about patents and they were pretty much like the results of this poll ie. Cls bank could make many of the ridiculous businessmethod and software patents invalid.
And, useful does not necessarily mean commercially viable. Probably one of the dumbest technology patents ive seen was u. And thats why a lot of people flipped their wigs in 2008 in response to initial and histrionic reports that microsoft had. Those patents wont be valid in india regardless of where you company is based. Apple may have won, but software patents are still evil gigaom.
That is why eff has filed an amicus brief urging the court to uphold fee awards against patent trolls and their lawyers when they assert software patents that are clearly invalid under the supreme courts decision in alice v. Software patents dont solve a real problem, so we dont need to ask what other solution is. Jul 24, 20 people who spot patents in need of killing post them to a stack exchange forum called ask patents, in the cory doctorow 1. The author of the patent has stated that his strictly personal view, software patents should not exist and that they generally do much more harm than good. The concern was simple, how do you correctly report a four digit year when you pass the year 2000. Its certainly much easier to patent things that have already been invented, which is exactly what these people did. We sifted through the records to find 15 of the most absurd patents ever issued. While these innovations are supposed to improve life, none of them became successful products. People wearing snuggies blankets pose for a photo at a snuggies pub crawl in denver april 25, 2009.
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