"Yesterday, Microsoft announced with a formal press release a
settlement of a nuisance patent case filed against a smaller
company. Despite Microsoft’s protestations to the contrary,
the press release makes it clear that the motivation behind this
case was the fear, uncertainty and doubt Microsoft hoped the suit
would create around the use of Linux. Linux is, not coincidentally,
one of Microsoft’s strongest threats in the server, embedded
and desktop computing arenas as evidenced in recent remarks make by
its CEO Steve Ballmer.
"But the settlement of this suit only proves two things. First,
the software patent system in the US needs reform. The need for
reform stems from why common functionality like this (which is
neither innovative nor novel) was granted a patent in the first
place."
