Palm Quietly Responds to Apple's Quiet Threat
Linked by weildish on Sat 24th Jan 2009 22:44 UTC
Legal Several days ago when Apple hinted at legal action against Palm, we held our breath to see just what would happen. Now Palm has stepped up to the plate boldly and hinted that they'd fight whatever legal action is thrown at them.
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RE: Beautiful system
by melgross on Sun 25th Jan 2009 20:00 UTC in reply to "Beautiful system"
melgross
Member since:
2005-08-12

Patent law, even for software (why is that any different than for mechanical systems and processes?) is required.

To think otherwise is to not understand the way things work.

Why invest time and money into something if others will copy it right away, and very possibly deprive you of the income you rightfully deserve for coming up with it in the first place? That makes no sense!

The requirement that all the details of a patent be published and easily accessible, is also important, as it gives others the ability to study them, and if possible, find out even more innovative ways of doing the same thing.

Patents don't last forever. Unlike with copyrights, there has been no movement to extend those protections past 20 years.

Perhaps software patents should last for a shorter time, say 7 years. That would better track the way progress is made in this industry.

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE[2]: Beautiful system
by christianhgross on Sun 25th Jan 2009 21:34 in reply to "RE: Beautiful system"
christianhgross Member since:
2005-11-15

Patents are dumb!

It used to be patents were given to truly unique ideas. Ideas that made you say, "now that is cool..."

These days you get a patent for whatever comes out of your mind.

Patents have the requirement to be unique and non-intuitive. Gee if they actually applied that about 90% of the patents would fall away.

That is why the patent system is broke! It has become a domain of lawyers, for lawyers...

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[2]: Beautiful system
by elsewhere on Mon 26th Jan 2009 05:36 in reply to "RE: Beautiful system"
elsewhere Member since:
2005-07-13

Patent law, even for software (why is that any different than for mechanical systems and processes?) is required.


Software is already protected by copyright law. And it doesn't represent an invention, since it is by nature built upon existing constructs. Put another way, should an author be able to patent their style of writing to ensure that other authors don't try to emulate it? Do we want to see books, televisions shows or movies covered by patents?

Patents were created to protect physical inventions, not abstract concepts or ideas. Copyright law is sufficient for protecting IP.

To think otherwise is to not understand the way things work.


Riiiiight....

Why invest time and money into something if others will copy it right away, and very possibly deprive you of the income you rightfully deserve for coming up with it in the first place? That makes no sense!


Getting back to my original example, why do authors or writers or artists bother creating original works if others can copy them at will for free? Oh, wait, they can't. Copyright law.

There are no unique concepts in software design. There is nothing in any software application that is so revolutionary or groundbreaking that it deserves some special recognition that prevents anybody else from trying something similar.

You're arguing that IBM should own privilege over word processors, or that Apple should own privilege over GUIs (because they negotiated the right to use Xerox's original work), and that nobody else should extend those concepts because of the investment those companies made. Do you really want to live in a world where companies can stake their ground and prohibit competition just by becoming the first to come up with an idea for software? Would we be better served if all home users were forced to use Mac OS 1.0 or massive monochrome DisplayWriters in business, if those were patented?

The requirement that all the details of a patent be published and easily accessible, is also important, as it gives others the ability to study them, and if possible, find out even more innovative ways of doing the same thing.


And how does that change things? You just said that companies should have the right to protect their innovations, and now you're saying that others should have the right to see detailed access of those innovations and then find a different way of implementing them.

How do you protect code in a patent?

Patents don't last forever. Unlike with copyrights, there has been no movement to extend those protections past 20 years.

Perhaps software patents should last for a shorter time, say 7 years. That would better track the way progress is made in this industry.


Software patents shouldn't exist. Ideas were never intended to be patented. Concepts were never meant to be patented. The ability to patent abstract thought is the antithesis to innovation. Patents should protect physical inventions, period. Copyright law protects software to the best benefit for authors and users alike.

Reply Parent Score: 8

jabbotts Member since:
2007-09-06

Software is a written work so copywrite would be more applicable to protect it.

It's also a complicated math formula at it's most basic level; math is not petentable (yet software is?)

It's also documented business processes and policies; these are also not patentable.. unless you call it "software"

Reply Parent Score: 2