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Patent wars, it's like a real war but stupider
Orthanc
Death Lite, Only 1 CalorieOff the end of the internet, just turn left.Registered User, ClubPA regular
There's far too little controversy in here at the moment so lets talk about software patents.
Patents seem to be a cost of doing business for software companies these days. Either you pay lawyers to build a defensive portfolio, or you pay lawyers to pay off patent trolls.
This situation has always irked me as most / all software patents really don't meet the non-obvious criteria. In reality patents have ceased to represent a unique invention but rather just a ticket to litigate.
Until recently there has been only an indirect impact on consumers, the money spent on patents is not used for product development. But now patents are being used to block devices from being imported into various jurisdictions.
This is particularly bad in the smartphone space. Traditionally it's just been a shakedown for money, but Apple has no interest in licencing, just blocking competitors. Other companies are retaliating in the same fashion.
So what do you think of software patents? Is there any reason for them to exist?
Patents seem to be a cost of doing business for software companies these days. Either you pay lawyers to build a defensive portfolio, or you pay lawyers to pay off patent trolls.
This situation has always irked me as most / all software patents really don't meet the non-obvious criteria. In reality patents have ceased to represent a unique invention but rather just a ticket to litigate.
Until recently there has been only an indirect impact on consumers, the money spent on patents is not used for product development. But now patents are being used to block devices from being imported into various jurisdictions.
This is particularly bad in the smartphone space. Traditionally it's just been a shakedown for money, but Apple has no interest in licencing, just blocking competitors. Other companies are retaliating in the same fashion.
So what do you think of software patents? Is there any reason for them to exist?
Orthanc on
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Coming up with a highly specific way of locking/unlocking a phone's screen, as well as a highly specific interface for said mechanism, does not pass the smell test for me.
This one's better.
I don't see how that's possible. Orthanc's involved.
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack/
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
i was just about to post that very same link
it's totes worth a listen