Comment Re:...EU software patents? (Score 1) 523
The problem with software patents is that it protects an idea regardless of implementation. On top of that many software patents cover ideas that are a very small part of a large puzzle, again without implementation.
When developingan application it is quite possible, perhaps even inevitable to eventually be faced with a problem that has somewhere received a patent. Without knowing that a patent exists the developer comes up with a solution to the problem and completes the application. Keep in mind that at this point the developer is unaware that a patent exists and has not made any use of any of the information conveyed in the patent application or published elsewhere. His coding is entirely his innovation, noone elses!
Then at some point in the future someone steps forward and claime infringement on some patent because the idea of how to solve a problem encountered in the application has been patented by this person. The unfairness of patents is that without ever implementing anything, one can dream up ideas, wait until someone creates a product that infringes on these ideas, and finally reap the benefits by sueing and collecting royalties once the product is successful.
At the very least, patents should be 100% unenforcable unless they are accompanied by a marketable product, period. Further patents need to be on a particular implementation or solution to a problem, not on a broad concept.
When developingan application it is quite possible, perhaps even inevitable to eventually be faced with a problem that has somewhere received a patent. Without knowing that a patent exists the developer comes up with a solution to the problem and completes the application. Keep in mind that at this point the developer is unaware that a patent exists and has not made any use of any of the information conveyed in the patent application or published elsewhere. His coding is entirely his innovation, noone elses!
Then at some point in the future someone steps forward and claime infringement on some patent because the idea of how to solve a problem encountered in the application has been patented by this person. The unfairness of patents is that without ever implementing anything, one can dream up ideas, wait until someone creates a product that infringes on these ideas, and finally reap the benefits by sueing and collecting royalties once the product is successful.
At the very least, patents should be 100% unenforcable unless they are accompanied by a marketable product, period. Further patents need to be on a particular implementation or solution to a problem, not on a broad concept.
