Software Patent Reform Happening Now

Jim Hall writes "Many of us in IT recognize that software patents are a bad idea — you can patent just about anything if you put "on a computer" at the end of it. But now we can finally do something about it. Congress is considering the America Invents Act — your Representatives are very interested in hearing from you. Also, the USPTO is inviting public comments to change the system (you need to file by June 29, 2011.) I've written a blog post about software patents with more, starting with a primer of copyright and patents."

Comments

Can't be worse

[FoolishBluntman]

So write your congress critter now and tell them to scrap software patents!

Re:Can't be worse

[Jim Hall]

Yes. As cheesy as it sounds, your voice does matter.

Seriously, call their office, write them a letter (handwritten carries the most impact, but typed will do), or visit them in their office. Ask your Representative and/or Senator to push for "software" patent reform. Have some examples of "software" patents handy, and feel free to make a suggestion for how to fix the system. I think the citizen review method is a workable option. I've been discussing this topic with Sen. Franken's office for a while now, so if you don't have a particular suggestion to offer, ask your Senator to see what Sen. Franken is up to. I'm not kidding, they do listen to comments like that.

Invest some time and money in fixing this.

[khasim]

1. Find who your Senators / Representatives are.

2. Buy some decent letter writing materials. A physical letter carries a LOT more impact than an email.

3. Write the letters without profanity or insults. Include your contact information.

4. Send the letters to your Senators / Representatives.

5. Get your friends to write similar letters. The more letters they get, the more they will focus on this issue.

6. If an important vote is coming up, place a follow-up call to remind them how important this issue is.

The people most INVOLVED with the political process are the people who shape the political process. Corporations can pay people to devote time to influencing such decisions.

Re:Invest some time and money in fixing this.

[OctaviusIII]

7. Find out what members or staffers deal with this issue.
8. Send them letters, too.

Trust me on these last two. If a member doesn't have much authority over a relatively obscure issue, their office probably won't have any knowledge on the issue and won't be swayed as much by constituent mail, as there's no intellectual context into which they could slot it. Lobbyists will meet with staffers first, members much later. If you educate or intrigue the staffer, it'll get processed properly by them and percolate upwards. And that follow-up is essential. Good luck, junior lobbyists!

Don't get overexited

[ciaran_o_riordan]

This is a fourth rebranding of the proposed Patent Reform Act. Deckchairs get rearranged but there is little substance to all this and none of the driving forces have computer users in mind.

Some procedures get changed to make X more efficient and to improve quality sometimes for Y.

None of this solves the software patents problem in the USA. The software patents problem *isn't* caused by some bad apple applications slipping through the procedures. The problem is that software has to conform to standards (interfaces and data formats), and these are being covered by thickets of patents.

If there's 900 patents on something (i.e. mpeg), then weeding out the worst 10% changes nothing.

We need abolition, and we need Congress's support in this. The current Supreme Court has shown itself to be reluctant regarding substantial changes to law, and even if we won there, if we have no support in Congress then our victory would be wiped out by a legislative change.

Yes, do work on this proposal. Work to get software clearly excluded - you have to keep trying if you want to have a chance. But don't get overexcited. This is unlikely to be a big turning point - that is, of course, unless you get active and make it happen.

http://en.swpat.org/wiki/The_Patent_Reform_Act_(USA)
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Harm_to_standards_and_compatibility
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/MPEG_LA