By John Geralds, VNU Net
“Amazon.com’s chief executive Jeff Bezos has moved to deflect
criticism of his company’s patent policy, saying he will lead an
effort to try and revamp the US’s patent issuing procedures.
The action follows the threat of a boycott by thousands of
software developers over the online retailer’s decision to sue
rival Barnesandnoble.com to enforce a patent it was awarded for its
“1-Click” method of ordering goods over the internet.
The developers believe that the patent should never have been
issued in the first place as there was ample evidence of “prior
art” and they claimed that the lawsuit was merely an attempt to
stifle internet innovation.
But Bezos is now attempting to pacify the community by posting
an open letter to the firm’s website announcing his patent
plan.
In the document, he defended both Amazon’s right to the patent –
and another one it owns related to its affiliates programme – and
the firm’s action against Barnes and Noble.
But he added: “I now believe it’s possible that the current
rules governing business method and software patents could end up
harming all of us – including Amazon.com and its many shareholders,
the folks to whom I have a strong responsibility, not only ethical,
but legal and fiduciary as well.”
As a result, he said he was prepared to lead a lobby on Congress
to try and have the rules regarding patents modified.
Such changes would include shortening the time that a business
process or software patent is valid for from 17 to three to five
years. He also advocates the introduction of a short public comment
period before a number is issued for business method and software
patents to enable discussion of the prior art issue.
Tim O’Reilly, the man who led the protest against Amazon and
organised the 10,000 signature petition, welcomed Bezos’ action.
O’Reilly is founder of technical books publisher, O’Reilly &
Associates.
“After all, if Time Magazine’s Man of the Year says that the
patent system has gotten out of hand, that may well have more
impact on the powers that be than if 10,000 relatively anonymous
programmers do so” he wrote on the company’s website, where the
issue has been debated at length.
And for those sceptical of Bezos’ motives, he added: “One thing
about a call for action in Washington is that it could be seen as
just a way of shifting the focus away from Amazon and on to the PTO
(Patent and Trades Office). I don’t think that is what Jeff is
trying to do–but one way to tell that for sure is by the amount of
follow up we see over the next few months.”