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Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

nzherald.co.nz

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81–90 of 128 posts

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#81

Post by drucken »

ultimoo wrote: post #72

We recently covered patents and basic copyright law in a technical writing class. What my professors taught me was that 'patent is a contract between society and inventors to encourage progress'. And it seems fair on certain levels. I am a huge proponent of FOSS, I respect Stallman, I've read his book and I think patent trolls are dicks. However, is it a good idea to make software not patentable ? Will we as a commun…

Making something patentable does not magically transfer attributes to it, i.e. 'to encourage progress'.

The question is not whether not to patent but whether patentability is appropriate.

In respect to software patents, which is little more than mathematics and a form of art, that has been shown to be wholly inappropriate.

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#82

Post by polymatter »

wildster wrote: post #65

The UK and Europe have similar restrictions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patents_under_United_K...

Thats misleading, since software patents are regularly granted anyway. From the article you quoted:

"Patent laws in the UK and throughout Europe specify a non-exhaustive list of excluded things that are not regarded as inventions to the extent that a patent application relates to the excluded thing as such. This list includes programs for computers.

Despite this, the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) regularly grants patents to inventions that are partly or wholly implemented in software"

The patent situation is definitely better in UK and Europe than in US, but actual enforcement is key. The problem is using ambiguity of English to justify the software as having a "technical effect" and patentable by that metric. At which point saying that software isn't patentable is at best misleading since you could argue that all software has a "technical effect".

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#83

Post by evolve2k »

atirip wrote: post #58
acabal wrote: post #7

What does this mean for software companies in New Zealand? If they sell software in the US (and who doesn't, with the internet and all), I assume they're still on the hook for US patent law?

No. Technically NZ company can not sell anything outside NZ. And company only operates in jurisdiction of his origin country. Technically "selling in the US" means that NZ company is exporting (and this is regulated by NZ laws) and those who buy that software are importing (which is regulated by US laws) said software into US and US patent holder(s) can try to prevent that import. But even then this means nothing to…

xero.com the beautiful accounting software comes to mind, I wonder what this means for them.

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#84

Post by jimworm »

While software that violates other countries' patents cannot be sold to those countries, the sale of software is not the only use of software. The visual effects industry for example can sell their visual effects, and this is a major part of the NZ software ecosystem.

As a kiwi in Europe I can say that this will affect any future decision on where I'll base my business.

That is until the US comes in with their bullying tactics and buy our PM with 5 minutes of facetime with Obama.

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#85

Post by cpursley »

sigzero wrote: post #79
ajuc wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what's wrong with that?

They are not human. I agree there should be some for of animal rights for them...but they are not human so they do not get "human rights".

This is why I love HN. This conversation went from NZ software patents to the legal status of apes in NZ in no time.

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#87

Post by cpursley »

I've always felt that NZ was a sensible place for startups (in theory, I've never been). A nice clean country, easy of doing business, no capital gains tax, respectable government, no drones or porno scanners, California-like in north (and amazing scenery every in general), impressive # of tech companies in relation to size. They'd be smart to do a Start-up Chile sort of program. If I were a VC and wanted an adventure, I'd set up shop in Auckland and target the promising startups who couldn't get US visas.

http://ease-doing-business.findthedata.org/

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#88

Post by mercurial »

ekianjo wrote: post #53
nikatwork wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are asserting that extreme poverty and the absence of welfare or assistance does not lead to crime? I find your position dubious.

Yeah. Have you ever heard of peer to peer assistance? you know, that thing called charity that used to exist before governments started to take care of it themselves? How about Mother Theresa? How about the Red Cross? About about the religious associations who live on donations only? In your little world everything comes from the government, as well as your ideology it seems.

I would not bring up a notorious nutter like Mother Theresa in support of your Ayn Rand ideology if I were you.

And your argument that charities and government-funded welfare are mutually exclusive is just plain bizarre. In any case, let us know how Somalia works out for you.

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#89

Post by drharris »

cpursley wrote: post #85
sigzero wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are not human. I agree there should be some for of animal rights for them...but they are not human so they do not get "human rights".

This is why I love HN. This conversation went from NZ software patents to the legal status of apes in NZ in no time.

If it were reddit, we'd already be on the subject of throwing feces.

Re: Software will not be patentable in New Zealand

#90

Post by Drakim »

ekianjo wrote: post #56
rimantas wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nordic countries are ridden with wellfare and are doing quite OK, I'd say. The problems Greeks and others are having are not related to wellfare.

Well welfare has a threshold effect. Nordic countries have very small populations to take care of. You'll see that countries where welfare becomes an issue are usually larger ones in the dozens of millions. But I wouldn't put all the nordic countries in the same basket. Last I know Sweden is not doing too well compared to Finland.

Couldn't one simply split countries up into smaller countries, if being a small country makes things better?
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