My firm and i have quite a bit of experience with software patents and related technologies, and i even have my own software patent application pending on a. Is your head just bursting with inventive ideas well, show off your creative genius with patently stupid, the game that will turn you into a modern tom edison youll attend an exclusive, invitationonly seminar hosted by exspouses toby and lena that is only open to everyone, everywhere. The concept expressed in the software is fully independent of the implementation. Meanwhile, some in the patent lobby are pushing to make it even easier to get broad and abstract software patents. So why do so many people complain about software patents specifically. This is a significant loophole to exploit for the purpose of implementing patented ideas because patent infringement is a civil issue and not criminal. Theyre the types who would stand to profit from someones nonobvious software invention not being patentable, and so most such people are unsurprisingly against software patents. See our new guidance on section 101 dealing with section 101. For 20 years, no developer can implement that feature without asking the patent holder, who can refuse, or ask for payment and impose conditions. People who defend software patents say they do protect genuine. This may not seem relevant to most people but its the same as the freedom to write a book. The opponents to software patents have gained more visibility with fewer resources through the years than their pro patent opponents. Going back to the days of slashdot glory, people used to routinely shame patents over there.
There are so many stupid patents that mark cuban endowed a chair at eff. These standards capture utility patents, which are what most people think of when they hear the word patent. The 5 most ridiculous things people tried to patent. And thats why a lot of people flipped their wigs in 2008 in response to initial and histrionic reports that microsoft had. The result is monopolies or only two or three companies being active in a given domain. People against software patents how is people against. If software patents were only granted to people who had invested a significant. The quality of us patents or patents granted by the u. Today there are tens of thousands of software patents and this harms everyone, because everyone uses software. What are the most ridiculous technology patents ever granted.
A patent is a set of exclusionary rights granted by a state to a patent holder for a limited period of time, usually 20 years. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to work out who. Why software patents are a joke literally slashdot. Its certainly much easier to patent things that have already been invented, which is exactly what these people did. No one can know everything, but those who dont know usually have methods to obtain knowledge yet to be acquired. I think the problem is more with the patent office than the concept of software patents.
Sep 28, 2018 all too often, software patents stop more innovation than they promote. United states and europe compared software is a global business. If any component is claimed in a way that could be. Patent and trademark office adopted its final computer related examination guidelines. People have pointed out that the problem of software patents is much bigger than amazon, that other companies might have acted just the same, and that boycotting amazon wont directly change patent law. Uspto grants another stupid software patent hand in your.
And the patent on bilateral and multilateral decision making. And that meant people developed software, and they distributed that software in various ways, and they didnt have to worry about getting sued by patent holders for doing it, so they were safe. So, without further ado, here are 10 more bizarre and stupid patents. I dont think that software patents are controversial among hn community i remember reading comments to some threads about patents and they were pretty much like the results of this poll ie. Reposted from the effs stupid patent of the month series. But whether patent values will someday drop precipitously depends on events. Those patents wont be valid in india regardless of where you company is based. Jul 05, 2017 this months stupid patent, like many stupid patents before it, simply claims the idea of using a computer for basic calculations. This article does not attempt to clarify all the questions and uncertainties surrounding software patents but rather provide five tips or suggestions which should be kept in mind when considering patent protection of software related inventions. People who spot patents in need of killing post them to a stack exchange forum called ask patents, in the cory doctorow 1. Sometimes its about what people do when getting ready to leave. Jul 24, 20 people who spot patents in need of killing post them to a stack exchange forum called ask patents, in the cory doctorow 1.
The danger of software patents gnu project free software. This patent describes a way for software to automatically filter files. In many cases, people can quickly get out of shape. Though there were some positive court rulings on patents this year, there. That is why eff has filed an amicus brief urging the court to uphold fee awards against patent trolls and their lawyers when they assert software patents that are clearly invalid under the supreme courts decision in alice v. An indian company can apply for software patents in america which will be valid in america, just like anyone else. Patent and trademark office became the subject of much ridicule in recent decades. Apr 11, 2014 patents involving the use of electricity were condemned 140 years ago, as were biotechnology patents 30 years ago, and of course software patents when they began to appear in large numbers 20.
Plus, they say software that is widely used ends up patented by one company or person. People trying to patent either one have to prove their process is more than an abstract idea. All too often, software patents stop more innovation than they promote. People get around this by either 1 paying royalties more rare or 2 huge companies agree not to sue each other because both infringe so many of the others patents. And, useful does not necessarily mean commercially viable. Spectacularly dumb, says vera ranieri, an attorney for the electronic frontier foundation. There are so many stupid patents that mark cuban endowed a chair at eff dedicated to eliminating them. What many people not familiar with software dont seem to.
Someone is suing companies for using sms messages in 2019. Microsoft has filed for a patent on a system that would monitor the number of people watching a movie at home and prompt them to buy more licenses if a. Cls bank could make many of the ridiculous businessmethod and software patents invalid. A software patent is a patent on a piece of software, such as a computer program, libraries, user interface, or algorithm. The standard for usefulness is certainly the weakest of the three any possible utility, no matter how small, will suffice. Software patents are controversial for many reasons. Very often, the entities wielding software patents are patent trollscompanies that make money off suing and threatening to sue others. An indian company selling in america is subject to software patents in respect of the products sold in america because america does have software patents. These are all patented in the us patent office some of the original list of 15 were international patents but we dont mean that to be a reflection on the quality of american inventors. People against stupid people how is people against. Probably one of the dumbest technology patents ive seen was u. Patent trolls celebrate as trumps new rules breathes fresh. Debating software patents with silicon valley types is a losing battle. The battle against stupid software patents is on infoworld.
I raise this issue because it is currently rearing its ugly mug in the world of open source software, but it has affected much development in the proprietary worlds of windows as well. Stupid patent of the month electronic frontier foundation. While these innovations are supposed to improve life, none of them became successful products. Technologists have been warning against the wanton granting of software patents without fully researching prior art.
Software constantly evolves if the people involved in the project are innovative. Killing stupid software patents is really easy, and you can. If the anti software patent people have their way, software patents will become worthless and there will be a self. People who feel disposable are quick to find another job where theyll be valued. A dim view of software patents does not make mark cuban unique, but his latest foray. One of the core reasons is that some people view software as outside the scope of patentable subject matter.
This patent from 1968 is designed to help people who, for some unknown reason, might need to place a lock upon their toilet seat. Critics think that software patents allow many bad software to get patented. I was in the field when there were no software patents. People wearing snuggies blankets pose for a photo at a snuggies pub crawl in denver april 25, 2009. Decades of stupid software patents, tactlessly granted by. The software patent debate is the argument about the extent to which, as a matter of public policy, it should be possible to patent software and computerimplemented inventions. Thats a given most everything on this page is stupid in one way or another. Its not because the patent examiners are stupid, its because theyre following a system, and the system has rules, and the rules lead to this result. Nov 12, 2009 the people at the us patent office apparently have no clue about software, which is not something to be ashamed of, but that they are too stupid to get help with problems is.
We wish we could catalog them all, but with tens of thousands of lowquality software patents issuing every year, we dont have the. Aug 27, 2012 120 responses to apple may have won, but software patents are still evil ryan august 27, 2012 as someone who has worked with samsung, i can also add that samsung allocates money in its budget to settle patent infringement lawsuits, not just because it is a big company i. Software is cheap and can be built or evolved quickly as opposed to cars, flame throwers, and submarines. Policy debate on software patents has been active for years. Jan 10, 2019 3d printing is a dumpster fire of stupid, obvious patents, but thankfully many of these are expiring. Patents are legal instruments that can be used to sue people and companies for creating, selling, or using software.
Outrageous ideas that made people ridiculously rich. Software patents block standards, leading to incompatibility. Software patents dont solve a real problem, so we dont need to ask what other solution is. Thats according to daniel nazer, who holds the mark cuban chair to eliminate stupid patents at the. People against software patents how is people against software patents abbreviated.
These standards capture utility patents, which are what most people think. And that meant people developed software, and they distributed that software in various ways, and they didnt have to worry about getting sued by patent. It seems as though some inventors simply dont think through their inventions. And specifically, im going to focus my remarks on software patents and the socalled smartphone patent wars, which have become front page news in the last year or so. Mark cubans chair to eliminate stupid patents just got. These rights are granted to patent applicants in exchange for their disclosure of the inventions. Naturally, small companies and individuals dont have either option. This article focuses on european patent law and how it differs from united states law in.
The free and open source software community provides another example of software s quo without patents quid. Jul 10, 2012 the core public policy behind the patent system is widely ignored, even though its extremely simple and really quite clever. If trolls dont face consequences for asserting invalid software patents, then they will continue to shake down productive companies. Then why do many people seek to patent their software related inventions. Since software patents are no different from hardware patents, people who say software patents are evil are saying simply patents are evil. For the uspto to issue a patent, the invention must be novel, nonobvious, and useful.
The author of the patent has stated that his strictly personal view, software patents should not exist and that they generally do much more harm than good. If software patents were only granted to people who had invested a significant amount of work, and who had really invented something new, i would have a lot more trouble marshalling a real argument against them. What if we allowed some people to patent the law and then demand. The battle against stupid software patents is on patent trolls extort millions from developers and entrepreneurs, but help is on the way from the eff and the supreme court. We wish we could catalog them all, but with tens of thousands of lowquality software patentsissuing every year, we dont have the time or resources to undertake that task.
Pretty counterintuitive if youre trying to get people to save your info. Killing stupid software patents is really easy, and you. Most people will never write a book, but some people will, and society as a whole benefits from what is made by the few people who do write books or develop software. Dec 27, 2018 if they get their way, we can expect another flood of silly patents on business methods and software. The concern was simple, how do you correctly report a four digit year when you pass the year 2000.
As with all final guidelines, these were later replaced with the next version of the guidelines. Innovate how the current patent system actually hurts inventors patents are intended to protect entrepreneursbut thats rarely how they work in practice. Mar 02, 2019 quality of patents is an important aspect of patent law. Stupid patent thickets based on a lack of patented prior art. We sifted through the records to find 15 of the most absurd patents ever issued. Apple may have won, but software patents are still evil gigaom. Mark cubans chair to eliminate stupid patents just got filled. Sometimes they argue that software cant be defined.
For the uspto to issue a patent, the invention must be novel, nonobvious, and. Oct, 2015 the way that the mark cuban chair to eliminate stupid patents i. Software patents create legal and financial risks that most companies cant afford. Patents are more than just a simple incentive for people to develop. When the only people defending software patents are patent holders who make. A constitutional court ruling in south africa forbids the criminal prosecution and incarceration of people for civil debt.