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Software Patent Abolition Petition

wh.gov

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Re: Software Patent Abolition Petition

#11

Post by tankenmate »

Natsu wrote: post #3
tzs wrote: post #2

That's not a very well done petition. Here are some of the problems. (1) The America Invents act was not toothless. It contains provisions that put major hurt on patent trolls. (2) It fails to actually state any realistic action items. (3) It shows a misunderstanding of the role of the President in the patent system. What they are trying to accomplish requires Congressional action, not Presidential action.

You're right and they should use that to improve the petition, but I still think it's important to show that lots of politically active folks care about this. Sure, Obama can't just end software patents on his own. But at least it puts the opposition on the map, politically. Still, that's all the more reason to want to make a good case.

Here is a petition that calls the WH out on the petitions just being PR stunts; somewhat tongue in cheek, but mostly serious.

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/actually-ta...

Re: Software Patent Abolition Petition

#14

Post by JoshTriplett »

huhtenberg wrote: post #6

I frankly do not understand such black and white take on software patents. I don't think that all of them are evil. If one invests his time and money in developing a software algorithm - something non-trivial, say, an IFS compressor for binary data - why should such invention not be entitled to the same level of exclusive use protection that a mechanical design receives?

The previous story on this provided the perfect response: "If millions of people carried machine shops around in their backpacks, mechanical engineering would be incompatible with the patent system too." (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3182882)

Re: Software Patent Abolition Petition

#16

Post by JoshTriplett »

MartinCron wrote: post #15
monochromatic wrote: post #13

Has any online petition every accomplished anything? Serious question.

I can think of one, non-governmental one: http://www.petitiononline.com/netflix0/petition.html

Interesting. Can you point to any official response from Netflix referencing that petition, or did they just take the desired action without referencing the petition?

Re: Software Patent Abolition Petition

#18

Post by anigbrowl »

ozataman wrote: post #8

How about we start spending more than 5 minutes writing these petitions? Several points are missing and what's there doesn't even convey the key points clearly.

Dude, this is the internet. We don't think things through here, and I think the President should be weeping for gratitude that the petitioner deigned to use more than 140 characters to unburden himself. Weeping.

Re: Software Patent Abolition Petition

#19

Post by marshray »

tzs wrote: post #2

That's not a very well done petition. Here are some of the problems. (1) The America Invents act was not toothless. It contains provisions that put major hurt on patent trolls. (2) It fails to actually state any realistic action items. (3) It shows a misunderstanding of the role of the President in the patent system. What they are trying to accomplish requires Congressional action, not Presidential action.

I liked it better than the first one.

(1) It's not just trolls that are dragging us all down with patents.

(2) Eliminate patents, starting with the software ones.

(3) The President doesn't vote on the federal budget either, but it's not correct to say he doesn't have a role in it. In this case the USPTO is under the Executive Branch, so actually, I would think the President would have a lot of authority in the matter.

Re: Software Patent Abolition Petition

#20

Post by hugh3 »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #14
huhtenberg wrote: post #6

I frankly do not understand such black and white take on software patents. I don't think that all of them are evil. If one invests his time and money in developing a software algorithm - something non-trivial, say, an IFS compressor for binary data - why should such invention not be entitled to the same level of exclusive use protection that a mechanical design receives?

The previous story on this provided the perfect response: "If millions of people carried machine shops around in their backpacks, mechanical engineering would be incompatible with the patent system too." ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3182882 )

But millions of people have workbenches and toolboxes in their garages, and are quite capable of building physical objects and devices.
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