Comments on: Stephen O’Grady on software patents http://rc3.org/2010/03/19/steven-ogrady-on-software-patents/ Strong opinions weakly held Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:51:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Jacob Davies http://rc3.org/2010/03/19/steven-ogrady-on-software-patents/comment-page-1/#comment-8366 Jacob Davies Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:53:33 +0000 http://rc3.org/?p=10903#comment-8366 <p>The point about software requiring piles of innovations even for simple products is the best argument. There is no shortage of innovation, there is a surfeit, and what is state of the art this month might be obsolete by the next. This was never the case for mechanical inventions whose primacy might last for decades or even centuries. And remember that the goal of the patent system was also to encourage disclosure and eventual public-domaining of inventions (especially as many of them might be in manufacturing and therefore invisible to the outside world). But in software there is no shortage of disclosure; reverse-engineering is nearly universal, UI innovations can be reimplemented in minutes, and there are very few true "trade secrets" in the sense that they exist for manufacturing.</p> <p>Patents, in software, discourage experimentation and innovation by making entire areas of design off-limits (or potentially off-limits). Multi-touch? Better not go near that...</p> The point about software requiring piles of innovations even for simple products is the best argument. There is no shortage of innovation, there is a surfeit, and what is state of the art this month might be obsolete by the next. This was never the case for mechanical inventions whose primacy might last for decades or even centuries. And remember that the goal of the patent system was also to encourage disclosure and eventual public-domaining of inventions (especially as many of them might be in manufacturing and therefore invisible to the outside world). But in software there is no shortage of disclosure; reverse-engineering is nearly universal, UI innovations can be reimplemented in minutes, and there are very few true “trade secrets” in the sense that they exist for manufacturing.

Patents, in software, discourage experimentation and innovation by making entire areas of design off-limits (or potentially off-limits). Multi-touch? Better not go near that…

]]> By: Nathan Nutter http://rc3.org/2010/03/19/steven-ogrady-on-software-patents/comment-page-1/#comment-8331 Nathan Nutter Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:38:42 +0000 http://rc3.org/?p=10903#comment-8331 <p>That is an incredibly good point Rafe!</p> That is an incredibly good point Rafe!

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