Patent problems plague Linux

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Alarmist headlines

Draw attention, but in fact the article itself is fairly balanced and accurate. Yes, the patent system is broken, but in fact nobody is sure of the consequences.

Unfortunately, patent laws were written before the prevalence of software. And for years the PTO successfully refused to grant patents for software. Unfortunately the courts have interpreted the law as providing for software patents, and now we are faced with a threat to innovation that is in fact agnostic to license mechanisms. The sad fact is that any software developer, anywhere, open or closed source, could be (probably is) infringing patents, and there is no possible means of avoiding it.

As the author notes, the recent PubPat study should not, and probably did not, shock or surprise anybody. In fact this study was a great public service, in that it helped quantify what we have known all along. And it is interesting that the Munich city council has had the courage publicly to put a halt in its upgrade project to draw graphic attention to the problem that would only be exacerbated unless the EU/EPO sobers up and takes a long look at the possible consquences of admitting software patents.

The greater threat than that to any particular "community" or product is the potential impact on Western economies, which are already lagging in terms of growth. Without the strong tradition of intellectual property, it is certain that Asian countries will not tie their developers up in knots, and software innovation could go the way of manufacuring and call centers. This is potentially a competitiveness issue that could outweigh even the offshoring threat tha thas consumed so much of our attention recently.

The headline is just plain wrong - patent problems threaten far more than just Linux.

Posted by: IT_User   Posted on: 08/05/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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