Tag: SOFTWAREPATENTS

I'm not a fan of software patents, and I'm particularly not a fan of companies who use them as a business model. While the concept of patenting software makes sense, in practice it is a complete mess. I was therefore saddened to learn that Quintura, an otherwise interesting search startup, has devolved into using a patent for their visual search technology as a revenue stream by going after other ...

The New York Times published an opinion piece by Timothy B. Lee yesterday that compares the current patent conflict between Vonage and Verizon to the software patent landscape of the early 1990's. Back then, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates published a memo to Microsoft's senior management extolling the evils of software patents, claiming that they could lead to a complete stall in technological ...

Ah, software patents. They're not the hot topic they were a year ago, but that doesn't mean they've gone away. Free Software Magazine's Pieter Hintjens has penned an editorial titled What's wrong with software patents? "from a different angle, one based more on economics and less on emotions." It won't surprise you that Hintjens' conclusion, based on economics though it may be, still does not ...