Patent Law

All Red Hat and No Cattle

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

The open source software crowd have had their knickers in a twist for some time about patented processes via software, being fervently against them, and having more generally quaint notions about intellectual property, including copyright. Patrick Anderson provides an incisive analysis of this week's tempest in a teapot in his blog entry: "Free" Sells, But Who's Buying?

There doesn't appear to be much innovation in open source software crowd, otherwise, those kids would be pounding on the PTO's door with patent applications. Seems to me that Linux is basically a copycat software environment, so of course its developers are against patents. One of the more recent controversies with the Linux folk is whether they should hold their nose and copy Microsoft's recent toolbar technology, which looks to be a step forward for tool-rich applications, but, drat, it came from arch-nemesis Microsoft.

If you want to argue that the patent system is broken, take a systemic view. Objectively, from a standpoint of practicality, there's a lot wrong with the U.S. patent system. But to argue that a particular technology area fertile with innovative potential should be exempt from patenting is nothing more than naked self-interest.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on November 14, 2009 (boomark / email).