The point is the patent system

The point is the patent system

Posted Nov 8, 2004 18:44 UTC (Mon) by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054)
In reply to: Microsoft's protocol license agreement by mrons
Parent article: Microsoft's protocol license agreement

Microsoft knows damn' well any claims of theirs to have any rights, or to be able to sell any licenses, is beside the point. Look at the merry chase SCO is leading IBM on, and what it's costing IBM. All MS has to to do is wave some patent or other about networking or protocols (needn't have anything to do with their list), and the price of entry to play the game is suddenly

• a lawyer or two,
• the time to dig up previous art, and
• either
  • the effort to get the USPTO to invalidate the patent, if any, or
  • whatever it costs for the victim to shout loudly enough about the emperor's new clothes that it gets the attention of the unwashed masses of IT pros.

This is what the software patent system has brought us to. Deep pockets (and are any deeper than MS's?) and a few patents trump any single consultant, the vast majority of small businesses, and even, I suspect, some medium large ones.

Once MS has made [un]suitable noises to businesses without ready cash, hey presto!, MS gets whatever they want. Working up the food chain, they can knock off any small competition. The effect on the press, possibly on the courts, and certainly on the average computer user, is pretty much what it would be if they did own current patents to all of the above.

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