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Reforming Software Patents with 'Marking'
sakul writes "Came across an
article in the Stanford Law Journal that proposes
'marking' patented software to make the patents obvious to the public and to force large companies patenting software "to play by the same rules as holders of other kinds of patents." Interesting but technical read. Could this be a solution to some of the ever growing problems with software patents?" (Stephen Lindholm, the author of the paper, has provided a link to the paper itself, as well.) On the same topic, karvind writes "Gavin Hill, a film graduate, has produced and directed an interesting animated film on How Software Patents Actually Work. It's explaining the dangers of software patents and how they affect you and your business."
I figure if dogs can use this method to demarcate their territory, why can't people? So now the question is, will Bill Gates mark each package himself, or will Balmer get to do it too? It seems like this job would be way more than any single person can handle.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
"This paper starts from the proposition that software patents are, practically speaking, hidden away in the recesses of the patent office and practically impossible to find.
I don't see the problem. They're clearly marked in the basement, right by the sign that says "Beware of the Leopard."
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
"The greatest problem are submarine patents which do not even exist as widespread software products"
;) :)
I often sit around drinking bottles of water while working on my submarine and think quietly to myself: "I wonder what patents would I be infringing upon if I made this a consumer product? This submarine patent problem is the greatest problem in the world today."
How does one get a job at the USTPO?
It's tricky, from what I've heard. You need to demonstrate basic competence at oxidative phosphorylation.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
I am going to patent the idea that everything can be done in software. There is no prior art since no one can show that their software does everything. But I can sue everybody because if their software does something then it does something my patent does. I'll be rich if only I can beat you all to the patent office!
Stop Global Warming!
Just say no to irreversible processes!
I've never heard of a requirement to mark patents on the product.
I'm sure this will really mess up nanotech patents and business method patents.
I think we should chemically etch the appropriate patent numbers into the legal staff first.
and finally
Speaking of animated films, I think there's an opportunity here for a new direction in anime:
1) The Schoolkids genre - our hero is a high school boy with mystical powers. He is periodically posessed by the spirit of a patent examiner who can defeat software patent applications by pointing out prior art.
2) The Mecha genre - to get a patent accepted, corporations must defeat their opponents in a fight with giant robots. The hero belongs to an elite Anti-Software-Patent team that uses superior technology to destroy the evil corporate patent-bots.
3) The Magic Girl genre - the hero (necessarily a young girl) finds a magic briefcase, that, when opened, transforms her (in a suitably protracted and enticingly revealing transformation sequence) into a young woman who is a patent attorney fighting (pro bono) against corporate software patents in court on behalf of the EFF.
4) The Magic genre - patents are actually spells woven by powerful and evil corporate patent-conjurers. The hero is a young man who awakens to his power as a patent-sourcerer. He must fight a sequence of increasingly difficult battles, starting with a local software company, and ultimately challenging the most powerful patent-conjurers of all - the Emperor of Microsoft's personal mages - the dreaded cordaukar!
5) The Historical Drama - set in Japan's Sengoku Jidai (the Era of the Country at War), the story follows the adventures of an open-source ronin who is constantly attacked by evil samurai who have abandoned the Code of Bushido for the Corporate Mission Statement.
6) The Romance genre - the hero (an anti-software-patent comp. sci. student) falls in love with a young woman, who, unbenkownst to him is actually studying to be a software patent lawyer!
7) The Fighting genre - this one should be obvious. Like the Mecha genre, except that battles are fought between martial artists. The hero is a young punk who does not believe in all the martial arts codes - he is a street fighter, there to challenge the sanctity of the software-patent-sponsored "traditional" martial artists.
8) and finally, what everyone's been waiting for - the Hentai Genre! - patents are actually monsters from another dimension, whose only purpose in life is to get entrance into this one to have their unspeakable way with innocent young high-school girls (described in highly graphic endless detail). The heroine must "fight" the monster-patents to destroy them and make the world safe for....open-source developers.
We can count on certain highlights in this movement - for instance a suitably confusing and existential exploration of the the inner life of a software patent attorney directed by Hideaki Anno, a movie called "Ghost in the Brief" directed by Mamoru Oshii, and a soundtrack by the ever-brilliant Yoko Kanno. Look forward to it!
"Thank you for registering your Adobe product. Remember, only communists don't like patents!"
You mean you're a TERRORIST if you don't like patents. Terrorists are the bogeymen under the bed now.