Appeals court overturns Eolas decision

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Well, maybe a LITTLE less pleasing.

Seriously, the whole concept of software patents needs an overhaul.

The original intent of patents was to reward the actual inventor of a valuable invention with a limited-duration monopoly, in return for something of much greater value to society: detailed information on how the invention works (revealed in the patent application).

The duration of software patents was set back in the 18th century, when the pace of progress was much slower than it is now. That duration made sense for inventions such as Eli Whitney's cotton gin. Now, when computer technology (both hardware and software) generations are practically measured in months instead of years, such a long duration is simply too long. By the time the monopoly expires, nobody cares how the invention works anymore, because it will long ago have become obsolete. The value to society is greatly reduced (only historical interest, museum-type value remains).

Thus, if we keep software patents at all, the duration should be drastically reduced. The question is by how much? We can't predict the pace of future progress.

Actually, I heard a nifty solution to that problem: let the patent holder decide how long to keep the patent! But wouldn't they want to keep the patent forever? Not if it they have to renew it every year, and it costs twice as much each time! Such a geometric progression would cause the patent to rapidly become unprofitable even for a Microsoft!

Let's say that an individual can patent a software invention for two years for $1, while a corporation has to spend $10 to patent it for one quarter year. Educational institutions such as the U of CA would spend an intermediate amount, say, $5 per year. It is infinitely renewable, but the price doubles each time.

A Microsoft patent would cost $10 the first quarter, $20 the second quarter (for $30 to date), $40 the third year ($70 to date), $80 the fourth year ($150 to date), and so on. By the 16th quarter (fourth year), the renewal will cost $655,360. By the 32nd quarter (eighth year), it will cost over 40 BILLION dollars to renew, and that only for another quarter, when it will double yet again!

The patent holder decides when to call it quits, and when that happens, it becomes fully Public Domain.

Posted by: Joel R   Posted on: 03/02/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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