Of course patents exist - and so does plague

Posted Oct 4, 2010 17:29 UTC (Mon) by hozelda (guest, #19341)
In reply to: Of course patents exist - and so does plague by Lefty
Parent article: Microsoft sues Motorola, citing Android patent infringement (ars technica)

>> There's nothing natural about a handset manufacturer "rejecting" a claim of patent infringement, not if they want to stay in business, as Nokia (for example) discovered, unless you think it's also "natural" that they also ignore the courts and decisions coming from those courts which negatively affect the companies prospects.

Well, the very recent Bilski decision affirmed a strong machine-or-transformation test and essentially gutted State Street which had raised lots of fears and appeared to be in effect just prior to Bilski.

Nokia has made some smart moves towards open source and the wider community (eg, Linux). We collectively have a lot of influence, ability to help argue down patents (including finding prior art), the moral high ground (which is very useful before a jury of peers), a real value proposition for society that surpasses the patents yet is threatened by them. ETC.

Most companies are much smaller than Nokia; however, anyone can become the target of a shakedown. Software is everywhere. We all use it and many create extensions with it. We all need to speak up and band together. Collaborate. There is strength in numbers (especially with individual independent voices).

Patent trolls have gained prominence (eg, because of past former Microsoft execs) and represent a growing threat.. their taxes can be very significant. Their taxing will remove money from the system (including profits the government itself might have anticipated taxing for socially beneficial purposes). And some large companies also support the taxing and competition repressing (anti-consumer) features of the power that come with patents (so they would want software patents to be legitimized).