[Fsfe-ie] Possible opinion formers: academics
Ian Clarke
ian at locut.us
Thu Dec 4 11:04:23 CET 2003
Justin Mason wrote:
> I used to work for Iona -- they were very keen on software patents, at
> least at one stage. If I recall correctly, the board was keen on
> establishing a patent portfolio, since that's viewed as a Good Thing by
> investors and shareholders. So it would be unlikely, I'd say.
I have experienced investor-pressure to get software patents to while in
the US - unfortunately such investors are operating on a "Cargo Cult"*
principal.
There are actually robust business reasons that software patents are a
bad idea, and I used these arguments to persuade my partners and
investors not to go down that route. These are:
1) Its expensive for a small company
2) It takes 3 years, which may as-well be a lifetime for a small company
3) They are useless if a large company infringes the patent as they will
simply accuse you of infringing one of their patents and force you to
cross-license
4) By the time you have discovered (3) you have already disclosed your
invention as part of the patent process and there is nothing you can
do about it
I successfully advocated a trade secret strategy which is:
1) Free
2) Doesn't take any time
3) If it is a genuinely novel idea it won't be independently re-invented
and so the issue of someone else "infringing" it won't arise
I relay this story to highlight the fact that most investors *do* like
to see patents, but they typically don't know why. I also relay it to
highlight that there are good reasons why patents are a bad thing even
from the perspective of the person seeking the software patent.
Ian.
* http://www.physics.brocku.ca/etc/cargo_cult_science.html
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