Patent Reform Bill Unable To Clean Up Patent Mess

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday March 26, 2008 @06:44AM from the need-a-rake-and-a-hose dept.

First to submit writes "Ars Technica analyzes the Patent Reform Act that has passed the House and is being debated in the Senate. Unfortunately for those longing for real, meaningful patent reform, the bill comes up short in some significant ways. 'Despite the heated rhetoric on both sides, it is unclear if the legislation will do much to fix the most serious flaws in the patent system. A series of appeals court rulings in the 1990s greatly expanded patentable subject matter, making patents on software, business methods, and other abstract concepts unambiguously legal for the first time.'"

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Re:Do we really need patents? by DrWho42 · 2008-03-26 09:42 · Score: 4, Informative

Patents and copyrights are intended to prevent people from free-loading off of the work of others

This statement is factually false. Go and read the US Constitution if you want to know what patents and copyrights are actually intended to accomplish.