[jandrewrogers]

To be clear, I am entirely in the camp of algorithm patents being largely ineffective in software. I am not advocating for them, just recognizing the reality today.

In my view, the default outcome will be trade secrets, and it is already the case in many software areas. This has limits in practice as software trade secrets do have a tendency to leak out. I know a few clever database algorithms that are almost certainly trade secrets somewhere (origin is unclear), passed down but not in any public literature. On the other hand, I am aware of major (qualitative) tech advancements in e.g. graph algorithms that have not leaked after 15 years.

I think we need to be clear about the objective with IP law.