Software patents and Intellectual Property - obsolete

Dear Senator/Representative,

As the software world is becoming more open, it seems more clear than
ever that Intellectual Property law in the US, and in particular
the ability to patent software algorithms, is a hindrance rather than
an aid for future innovation.

USA is alone in honoring patents for such algorithms (at least in the
western world). Innovation that could take place here is therefore
only possible abroad - such as in the EU or Japan. One example is the
task bar in Microsoft Windows, which has been awarded a US patent.
Though prior art could easily be referred to should a case ever come
up, such a case would be very costly for a small entity fighting
Microsoft's massive legal apparatus. As a result, other graphical
user interfaces are nowadays mostly developed in Europe (for instance,
the KDE and GNOME interfaces for UNIX).

I am also writing this despite being a primary applicant for a US
software patent. While my invention is general in nature, my company
felt that we needed to protect ourselves from lawsuits by _other_
companies who _in the future_ might make a similar invention, by
applying first.

As you see, these laws are more than anything aimed at protecting
corporations from competition - and in the long run tend to have a
terrible effect on the emerging trend of colaborative development.

Thank you for your kind consideration,

Tor Slettnes
<tor(at)slett(dot)net>

On Tue, Mar 09, 1999 at 12:15:31AM -0800, Tor Slettnes wrote:
> As the software world is becoming more open, it seems more clear than
> ever that Intellectual Property law in the US, and in particular
> the ability to patent software algorithms, is a hindrance rather than
> an aid for future innovation.

I agree with these sentiments. I think that we can go much further than
writing our congress, however. I would like to see us assemble a class
action law suit against the federal government with the purpose of declaring
that the current U.S. Patent system violates the garaunteed right to
freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is arguably the most important
right granted in the constitution and intellectual property has become
a thinly veiled sham that grants corporations nearly absolute control
over the basic components from which new ideas are constructed. At the
current rate, in some short time it will become nearly impossible for
hobbyist programmers to practice their art without risking the violation
of some overly broad patent.

Is any effort similar to this idea under way?

--
_______________________________________________________________________
Ean Schuessler Director of New Products and Technologies
Novare International Inc. The Unstoppable Fist of Digital Action
--- Some or all of the above signature may be a joke

On Tue, 9 Mar 1999, Ean R . Schuessler wrote:
> I agree with these sentiments. I think that we can go much further than
> writing our congress, however. I would like to see us assemble a class
> action law suit against the federal government with the purpose of declaring
> that the current U.S. Patent system violates the garaunteed right to
> freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is arguably the most important
> right granted in the constitution and intellectual property has become
> a thinly veiled sham that grants corporations nearly absolute control
> over the basic components from which new ideas are constructed. At the
> current rate, in some short time it will become nearly impossible for
> hobbyist programmers to practice their art without risking the violation
> of some overly broad patent.
>
I have been doing some reading on copyright/patent law for software
(though I am not a lawyer!), and from what I've read, it seems the courts
are inclined to take into account whether or not the supposed infringement
was in the public interest or not.
Also looks like reverse engineering by disassembly may be all right,
_if_ you have an authorized copy, and it's the only (reasonable) way to
get at the non-copyrightable elements of the software (ideas and facts).
If the software is covered by a patent, that's a point in your favor
too, since patents are supposed to encourage opening up ideas, not adding
extra locks on them.
Warning: above is my interpretation of legal gobbledy-gook - whether
it's true or not I don't know. What I am pretty sure about is that the
results of an infringement suit (copyright or patent) will probably be up
in the air until a lawsuit has actually gone to trial.

Lynn
PS. I might agree with the class action lawsuit, but more because the
govt. is being negligent in its assignment of patents thereby giving out
govt-backed clubs for harrassment of potential software developers.