I am
surprised there is no mention of the FTC proposals for reforming the US patent
system, which are intended to address some of the problems specifically
mentioned in the paper.
Hal
-----Original Message-----
From: David RR Webber
[mailto:]
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 2:22
PM
To: Chairs OASIS
Subject: [chairs] Re-visiting IPR and
OASIS
Team,
The article here provides many insights and
raises questions.
It would be interesting to have feedback from
OASIS on exactly
how many of the issues raised are specifically
addressed by
the proposed IPR changes for OASIS - as I'm sure
as Chairs
we are going to get asked these same questions by
our
constituents.
Thanks, DW
===============================================
The Problem of Software Patents in Standards
Bruce Perens, Paper for
Brussels FFII "Regulating Knowledge" Conference
Patents, originally
created to stimulate innovation, may now be having
the opposite effect, at
least in the software industry. Plagued by an
exponential growth in
software patents, many of which are not valid,
software vendors and
developers must navigate a potential minefield to
avoid patent infringement
and future lawsuits. Coupled with strategies
to exploit this confusion over
patents, especially in standards setting
organizations, it appears that
software advancement will become stifled
unless legal action is taken to
resolve the situation. This article
examines the current situation facing
software developers and users,
the methods employed by standards setting
organizations to address
these problems, and recommends strategies for
resolving the problem
caused by software patents.
http://www.perens.com/Articles/PatentFarming.html
See
also the Conference Program:
http://en.eu.ffii.org/sections/bxl0411/program/
