[LIG] Fw: [IP] US Court tosses most Software Patents

----- Forwarded message from David Farber <dave-skGKvZKd2/[email protected]> -----

From: David Farber <dave-skGKvZKd2/[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:55:11 -0400
To: ip <[email protected]>
Subject: [IP] US Court tosses most Software Patents
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Reply-To: dave-skGKvZKd2/[email protected]



Begin forwarded message:

From: Randall <[email protected]>
Date: October 31, 2008 1:07:23 PM EDT
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne-Pi7Cr0HDNED2eFz/[email protected]>, 
[email protected], David Farber <dave-skGKvZKd2/[email protected]>
Subject: US Court tosses most Software Patents

http://www.itexaminer.com/us-court-throws-out-most-software-patents.aspx
(Lotsolinks@ the site)
US court throws out most software patents

Microsoft has a problem

By John Oram @ Friday, October 31, 2008 4:56 AM


Much of the patent portfolio of some of the world's biggest software  
companies has become worthless overnight, thanks to a ruling yesterday by 
the US patent court.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in Washington DC has 
decided that in the future, instead of automatically granting a patent for 
a business practice, there will be a specific testing procedure to 
determine how patentable is that process.

The decision is a nearly complete reversal of the court's controversial 
State Street Bank  judgement of 1998, which started the stampede for 
patenting business practices.

Randy Lipsitz, a patent specialist at Kramer Levin in New York, said the 
ruling is likely to hit certain industries very hard, especially  
insurance, banking, accounting, and software.

The decision is great for open source advocates. But it could mean a  
permanent change in the value of intangible assets, which comprise  
approximately 70 per cent of the average high-tech company?s market  
capitalisation. With the world's economy sliding downhill at an increasing 
pace each day, this decision could cost US companies billions of dollars.

Pamela Jones at Groklaw told the Examiner that because Microsoft doesn't 
make many machines, much of its patent portfolio just went up in smoke. She 
said that a special thanks should go to Red Hat software for the wonderful 
amicus brief that it filed in this case, representing the community's 
interests, and getting certain issues on the court's radar. She said there 
will be more information on her website, and recommended reading Gene 
Quinn's patent blog at the Practicing Law Institute.

Many people say the problem with a lot of business and software patents is 
that they describe simple things that many people consider normal daily 
procedures. In 1833, the New York City Sun newspaper was founded. Benjamin 
Day, the publisher, didn't file for a patent on his innovative business 
practices of selling advertising and using news boys to distribute his 
papers. All up and down the eastern seaboard, newspapers popped up. It is 
very doubtful that this industry would have come about had the Sun's 
business practices been patented.

We spoke to one Silicon Valley executive who saw a silver lining,  
suggesting that this decision will save a lot of companies cash by  
removing the need for endless patent protection schemes. He said his  
company and its niche industry will protect its practices, just as Coca 
Cola has protected its secret formulas for over 100 years.

Right now there is a lot of speculation in the blogs as to whether there 
will be an appeal in the US Supreme Court. Some legal experts say yes; 
others say it's not very likely because of the way the decision was worded.

So good luck to Microsoft, Oracle and a lot of American high-tech  
companies in attempting to protect their software's market value. The  
world is going through a financial overhaul and only the nimble will  
survive. X


--
The war on privilege will never end. Its next great campaign will be  
against the privileges of the underprivileged. H. L. Mencken





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