New York Times on software patents: “The legal environment changed not because of new legislation, but by accident. One important ruling here and another there, and without anyone fully realizing it, a new intellectual-property reality had evolved by the end of the 1980s. Now software could enjoy the extraordinary protection of a patent, protection so powerful that Thomas Jefferson believed that it should be granted in only a few select cases.”
Unfortunately the article’s spin is one of questioning Microsoft’s new atraction to software patents—but I don’t blame them one bit. Given today’s laws and competitive ways it makes corporate sense. I question whether software patents makes sense in the bigger picture though. The competitive landscape is changing and software patents are going the wrong way.