Patent Issues Must Read

ARS Technica have published an article which discusses some of the issues facing the current patent process and the viewpoints of some of the players in the battles surrounding the laws involved in them. In the article, which is well worth a read, they state that: "Two of the nation's leading civil liberties organizations and a new organization dedicated to the abolition of software patents have all filed amicus briefs in a patent case that could give the courts an opportunity to revisit the issue of software and business method patents." I'll be following this one as I think that the whole patent process as it stands is bad for innovation and too easy to abuse.

Microsoft Hit With $1.5bn Patent Ruling

A federal jury in San Diego has ordered Microsoft to pay $1.5bn to Alcatel-Lucent in a patent dispute over MP3 audio technology used in Windows.

Microsoft believes that they properly licensed the MP3 technology from Fraunhofer, which helped develop the MP3 compression technology along with Lucent's Bell Labs.

This ruling could have larger implications, with Lucewnt being free to go after anyone using mp3 in their products. One thing I do know, the only people really benefiting from this are the Lawyers. They make money win or lose. Who's next Apple, Sony, Creative, Intel?...

Has it become time for us to re-examine Patent and other intellectual property laws? Some say that the Patent system itself is the biggest area where IP needs to be reformed. We've seen plenty of evidence of this over the years.