“Bogus software patents pose a genuine threat to computer
industry innovation… University of Virginia professor and author
Bryan Pfaffenberger contemplates what’s going to happen when
open-source authors start getting hit with patent infringement
lawsuits — and the picture isn’t pretty.”
“You just released your source code to the ‘Net, and you’ve
licensed it under the terms of the GNU General Public License. But
you’re in for a nasty surprise. A month later, you receive a
threatening letter from the Software Industry Association of
America (SIAA). It seems you’ve violated no fewer than 197
patents…”
“And then suddenly it hits you. That’s just the point. You can’t
write any software without infringing on somebody’s patent — even
“Hello World” will infringe…”
“So what’s wrong with software patents? Everything. The PTO has
handed out thousands of patents for trivial software techniques
that any developer working independently would discover. Little
attempt is made to determine prior art. Increasingly, the agency is
granting patents for obvious techniques that wouldn’t surprise a
‘Net-savvy sixth grader, let alone an expert.”