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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."

2 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. While we're at it... by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...since most of these shoddy patents get through because the patent examiner doesn't realize the applicant has just fancied up something obvious, another major improvement would be to require patent summaries to be easily readable. How to enforce? How about this: allow patents to be invalidated on the grounds of obfusctating terminology. To test this, a defendant could be allow to offer an alternative phrasing, and if the judge|jury finds that a) the alternative phrasing describes the same invention (i.e., the plaintiff can't think of something that would fall under one but not the other), and b) the alternative phrasing is "significantly easier" to understand, the patent is invalidated. That would have the added benefit of a kick of harsh reality to those who deceive themselves about their own inventiveness. "No dude, you just put a scroll wheel on the side. You didn't provide an 'integrated mind-user-machine interface', whatever that is."

    --
    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
  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/