Let’s Limit the Effect of Software Patents, Since We Can’t Eliminate Them (Wired)

A lot of European companies have ended up in serious trouble on attempting to enter the US market and to comply with US laws, regulations and legal traditions that can be quite different from European systems. I know many have tried and failed seriously. At first glance the US market looks attractibe. On second glance it is not that rosy.

>> You cannot patent an idea. You need to reduce it to practice.

> That is true in theory, but if you look at many US patents, it is de-facto possible to patent an idea.

Patenting an idea would make life simpler if we just for the moment overlook issues like violations of national laws, regional conventions (such as EPC) and international agreements (such as TRIPS). Do you have a good example?

> Well, Eric Schmidt estimates 200,000 patents covering "mobile", and he is in a better position to know than I am. (although he might be biased :-))

I have prosecuted a fair number of broad mobile related patent applications. These cover far more than software, for instance mechanics for keyboards, RF designs (particularly antennas), all aspects of fabrications such as chip encapsulation and PCB coating (to withstand large environmental changes in humidity and temperature that mobile phone are exposed to), battery technology and more. If you count anything relating to mobile technology you will get far bigger numbers than for software alone.