One of the most serious threats to the software industry going forward is the growing number of absurd software patents that are being awarded. For example, a patent was awarded for a technique called ‘windowing‘. Windowing assumes that a two digit year is from the 1900’s if the value is greater than some number, and it is from the 2000’s if it is less than that number. I’m sure it will be revoked as prior art in this area arrives in a landslide, but the fact that such a patent was awarded is worrying.