On Mar 4, 2011, at 10:23 PM, Cédric Beust ♔ wrote: > > Look, I've been on both ends of the software patent war, I have some > first-hand experience on the impact that it can have on a business and a > technological stack. It's never fun when you need to find a different way of > doing something because of existing patents, but by now, I firmly believe > that it *does* force you to innovate more than if the software patent law > didn't exist in the first place to keep you honest. >
I'm a big believer that reinventing something that someone else has already done is a complete waste of time - unless what was done previously obviously needs improvement. Reinvention for the sake of avoiding litigation is NOT innovation, it is a waste of time and money. Furthermore, software is very much like the instructions that come with a box of tinker toys that show you how to make different things. You can patent the objects but you can't patent the instructions. One of the reasons lawyers love software patents so much is because they are not tangible objects - it means more for them to argue about, which is why they are so costly. Finally, in case you aren't aware, patents that are challenged before they are approved can be challenged for more reasons than they can be after they are approved by the USPTO. This is stupid since it means everyone has to pay attention to every patent being applied for that they might potentially ever get sued for if they want to have the greatest chance of avoiding costly litigation. Naturally, this means employing a lot of lawyers to do that. Ralph -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
