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by tgsovlerkhgsel 1733 days ago
The more examples I hear, the more I think patents should just be thrown out altogether in many cases.

At the very least, software patents in the sense of "if your implementation uses exclusively general purpose computers and software, it cannot be violating a patent".
1 comments
pclmulqdq 1733 days ago
Alice vs CLS bank threw out most patents saying "do X on a computer." Patents basically have to have a physical effect or give something a property it wouldn't otherwise have, so compression (saving bits) and encryption (giving security properties) are patentable, but most things like web apps and online shopping carts (an infamous patent troll sued many people over this pre-Alice) are not.
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tgsovlerkhgsel 1733 days ago
> so compression (saving bits) and encryption (giving security properties) are patentable

Which is a huge problem, because now you again need an army of lawyers just to determine whether something is patentable, and can redesign/argue around stuff to make it look patentable even where it should not be.

It would be much nicer if you could say "Here is a mass market consumer grade laptop I purchased at Walmart this morning. Here is the software running on it. Your patent claim is invalid. Your honor, I'd like my legal fees reimbursed and the plaintiff's attorney sentenced to sixty lashes for wasting everybody's time".

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