ambiguity

ambiguity

So the engine design in my car is software, because it can be printed on paper, and was fed through lots of ALUs during the design process, and thus any patent that's infringed as a consequence of design decisions is a software patent?

And if I'm sued for using the software as part of an industrial process, where the software is the part of the system that implements the invention, then I'm allowed to counter-sue, but if instead of using a microcontroller, a sensor, and software to implement the feedback loop, I used the simpler mechanical equivalent, I'm not?

These sorts of edge cases are why it takes a lawyer to think it through - and why simpler is better (e.g. "you are using a patent if you sue someone first; you are defending yourself with a patent if it's a counter-suit").

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