software patents and data formats

Codecs are the perfect example of why there should be NO patents on software ideas.

Patents are supposed to encourage "lateral innovation".  I.e. by blocking off one way of doing
something, they encourage others to find new ways of doing that same way.  This should lead to
improved ways of doing things.

This is worth zero for data formats.  If the job is to display a certain format, lateral
innovation is impossible.  Writing software that would display some other format simply won't
get the job done and isn't worth working on.

Your argument seems to be based on an idea that patents exist to help people profit from
research.  This isn't the case, but even if it was, it fails for data formats for another
reason: Imagine I invest ten million Euro into developing a data format that's better than
Microsoft's.  If I can patent it, Microsoft will simply not use it.  If no one uses my format,
it and its patent are worthless.

Data formats aren't made valuable by of their features.  They're made valuable by having a
relationship with (or being) those who own the channels of communication.

More info on software patents:
http://ciaran.compsoc.com/software-patents.html