Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

EFF Asks Supreme Court to Protect FOSS Innovation

Posted by timothy on from the no-this-is-for-adding-one-plus-two-not-one-plus-one dept.

euice writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation supports KSR International in a fight against obvious patents. They filed an amicus brief (PDF) yesterday, a short summary is on their news page (August, 23). FTA: 'The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn a dangerous patent law ruling that could pose a serious threat to Free and Open Source Software projects. [...] In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed its own 'suggestion test' as the main method for determining when a patent should be found obvious over knowledge in the public domain. Under this test, even the most obvious incremental advances and add-ons can be patented unless the Patent Office or a defendant in court produces a document that shows someone else suggested it prior to the patent being filed. [...] In its amicus brief filed Tuesday, EFF shows how this 'suggestion test' has led to a massive surge in bogus patenting, especially in software. These bad patents then become weapons against legitimate innovators — especially those working on Free and Open Source Software projects.' For me, this sounds like a really good shot in the right direction."

3 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Law vs. What's Right by Gallenod · · Score: 2, Informative

    The issue here isn't what's right, but what patent law currently states. It's entirely possible the Supremes will uphold the appelate court.

    Despite the protestations of various litigious losers, the court system, including the Supreme Court, generally prefers to interpret existing laws than make law themselves. The problem is that where the law is unclear or nonexistent, if behavior doesn't violate some constitutional principle the courts essentially say: "This is not explicitly prohibited, so it is allowed. If you want to prohibit it, seek a legislative change."

    As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., stated: "This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice."

    --

    TLR

    A man no more knows his destiny than a tea leaf knows the history of the East India Company
  2. Where would we be without EFF? Begging the ACLU? by pfz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Patent law is just as big a mess as copyright law due to technology and commerce slamming into one another...

    Watch EFF attorney Jason Schultz tear the roof off in the new documentary, ALTERNATIVE FREEDOM. Maybe you will learn something or be able to show your friends and then we can all make sure digital rights are always kept in mind...

    Also features Dangermouse (of Gnarls Barkley), Lawrence Lessig, Richard Stallman...

    Check it out:
    http://alternativefreedom.org/

  3. Re:While we're at it... by tepples · · Score: 2, Informative
    When was the last time a patent expired and became open domain.

    Patents expire 20 years after filing in most cases. RSA and LZW patents have expired within the past six years.