Patents and Software

(Yes, I am back.  I tired of not writing my thoughts and not having anyone read them.)

For those who don't know me, I actually have a vested interest in the patent system.  I almost became a patent examiner at one point, I was going to be a patent lawyer earlier in life, and currently I am very active in pursuing patents for me original ideas.  If you follow patents you will know that there is a lot of talk recently about the laws in congress currently.  I am not going to discuss them today but I would like to lead you to an interesting article I found: (http://thisismynext.com/2011/08/11/broken-patent-system/).

Rarely is there a conversation on patents that start at basically first principles and tried to bring the debate into that context.  This does that work and I appreciate it.  I think it is often missed how important patents are to the public good.  (The use of copyrights and their length is another conversation entirely.)  I think this posting rights the conversation around patents appropriately for the current times.  Whether or not you agree with software, medical, business, etc. patents you should spend the time reviewing this it is worth your time.

For me I still sit in my position I have had for a long time.  This is the system we have and so I have to work inside of it.  Failure to seek protection for my ideas and inventions would be self-destructive.  However I do notice that there are issues with the current system, mostly due to ambiguity and human nature in charting the course of this section of the U.S. Code through time.  I try to remember that for every bad patent there is a good one out there, someone who was able to monetize their work and get rewarded for their effort.  For every neat new widget there are a million copies 20 years later.  I don't like waiting 20 years but I would rather have that then nothing.  I also realize that not everyone is going to agree and I would like the system to be simplified, I would vote at the ballot for this, but I need someone who is intelligent working towards this end and I currently have little to no hope that the current government (all of them) can do anything about it.