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SubjectRe: GPL and s/w patents [was Re: Article: IBM wants to ...]
Jim Freeman wrote:

snip snip

> Part of rms's ingenious foresight was to recognize a long time ago that
> sovereignty (for both s/w and its users) requires both the GPL *and*
> the discouragement of s/w patents - thus the LPF et al. The growing
> tidal wave of (trivial?) s/w patents (and the USPTO's complicity in
> 1) patentng s/w at all (anathema before the mid-80's [algorithms vs.
> processes] and to 2) patenting the most trite [ie: non-inventive,
> obvious] of programming methods) encumbers otherwise sovereign
> software every bit as onerously as proprietary copyrights ever will.
>
> http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/
>
> U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8:
> The Congress shall have Power .. To promote the Progress of Science
> and the useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and
> Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
> Discovereies;
>
> [ Apologies for US-isms - the foundations and motivations for such
> laws are probably similar in other countries. ]
>

I started thinking about the essential differences between
software/algorithms and hardware for patent purposes. Here is my
thought:

Mass production of physical devices (hardware) is very expensive. The
equipment involved may cost millions or billions of dollars. Most
independent inventors and small companies have too little capital to
mass-produce a device. Patents were created, in part, to allow these
inventors+companies to profit from their inventions anyway. They can
patent the invention, then license it to a large manufacturer with the
necessary equipment. If nobody wants to license, they can try
manufacturing it themselves. If patents did not exist, then a small
company's inventions would immediately be grabbed by large corporations
capable of profiting from them.

The situation is different with software. If I come up with a new
algorithm, I am as capable as any other to produce and distribute
software based on that algorithm. The big companies have less inherent
advantage (advertising still plays a role.....). Also, a new algorithm
might lead to hundreds of different new products. Thus, the
restrictions imposed on a patented algorithm serve little purpose, and
squash innovation.

--
David Feuer
feuer@his.com
dfeuer@binx.mbhs.edu
Open Source: Think locally; act globally.

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