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A comment on Encourage the USPTO to stop issuing software patents; deadline September 27. Parent comment

Re:Encourage the USPTO to stop issuing software patents; dea... by nkurz on Saturday September 25, 2010 @01:55AM (#1726428)
Yes, it would create a temporary advantage for companies already holding patents, but they already have an advantage. And in a relatively short period of time (less than 20 years) most of the patents will have expired and that advantage will go away.

But personally, I don't think it's going to scare away many innovators. As it is, many American software patents do not hold in Europe. Despite this, American companies rarely seem concerned that their 'patent disclosures' will be used against them by their European competitors.

I wager this is because they are not truly innovations of the sort that require protection in order to encourage their creation.

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Re:Encourage the USPTO to stop issuing software patents; dea... by TrevorJ on Saturday September 25, 2010 @02:23PM (#1727481)
20 years? Go back 20 years and look at the software we had then. 20 years is an eternity. Way too long to put up with the chilling effect this would have on new competition in the market. I'm not saying you don't have a point in the long term, but I think there's got to be some sort of middle ground here that can help insure that startups who want to innovate can confidently tell their investors that they aren't going to end up paying all that money just so Google or MS or whomever can copy them.
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