Worry for 1+1=2
There's a story over on Groklaw that covers a new patent ruling - apparently, they've approved being able to patent simple mathematical formulae.
Obviously, with a domain name like mine, that's a worry - but I'm pretty sure I can claim prior art on 1+1=2 ;o)
Obviously, you've got the doom-and-gloom brigade predicting the end of the world due to patents - innovation will be impossible, or go to other countries while ours collapse, blah, blah.
Me, I think they're guilty of the common failing that people have in predicting the future - they assume that current trends will continue indefinitely.
Here's the thing: They never do.
Patents are already silly. They're getting sillier. More and more things are becoming impossible to do without violating a patent. While bad patents are abstract "this could happen if" things, nobody cares. But it's starting to impact on people's lives already, and it's only going to get worse.
Take Blackberry's being unable to send email because of a patent claim. This infringes on the lives of thousands of workers. This isn't an abstract, this is a very obvious "Patents are screwing things up". As more and more examples get more and more in the way, the demand will get ever-greater to sort out patents. The pro-patent lobby is currently able to say "More patents are good" because no ill-effects are apparent. When they become apparent, no excuses will be accepted: The patent system will be revealed as broken, and there will be no choice but to sort it out.
In the meantime, enjoy the irony of the big pro-patent companies being hoist by their own petard as they are themselves blocked from doing things because other people have gotten silly patents first :o)
Obviously, with a domain name like mine, that's a worry - but I'm pretty sure I can claim prior art on 1+1=2 ;o)
Obviously, you've got the doom-and-gloom brigade predicting the end of the world due to patents - innovation will be impossible, or go to other countries while ours collapse, blah, blah.
Me, I think they're guilty of the common failing that people have in predicting the future - they assume that current trends will continue indefinitely.
Here's the thing: They never do.
Patents are already silly. They're getting sillier. More and more things are becoming impossible to do without violating a patent. While bad patents are abstract "this could happen if" things, nobody cares. But it's starting to impact on people's lives already, and it's only going to get worse.
Take Blackberry's being unable to send email because of a patent claim. This infringes on the lives of thousands of workers. This isn't an abstract, this is a very obvious "Patents are screwing things up". As more and more examples get more and more in the way, the demand will get ever-greater to sort out patents. The pro-patent lobby is currently able to say "More patents are good" because no ill-effects are apparent. When they become apparent, no excuses will be accepted: The patent system will be revealed as broken, and there will be no choice but to sort it out.
In the meantime, enjoy the irony of the big pro-patent companies being hoist by their own petard as they are themselves blocked from doing things because other people have gotten silly patents first :o)
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