So, you are saying that we should go against the constitution of the united sates that protects people who invent things, such as software and not allow them to protect it by having a patent for a limited time?
I should have patented stupidity. I'd be the richest person on the planet by now![]()
I bet that Yale professor is jumping for joy right now.
It is crazy out there. But if people can't patent their work, what's the motivation to do it if others can just wait for you to innovate, then copy your whole process?
This is what I was wondering, and I was considerably correct.It seems most people in this thread have no idea what they are talking about. The user you are quoting was talking about software "ideas". In europe, acquiring a software patent is extremely difficult (especially in countries like Germany). I know because I have filed for patents in my previous job when I was working in R&D. You can patent a particular implementation of an idea related to software but you can't patent a software idea.
A colleague of mine had a pretty badass idea related to email and the German patent office won't grant him the patent unless he had an actual working implementation. He wrote a plugin for thunderbird and he got the patent.
All those people going "how am I supposed to protect my work" have no idea how messed up the patent office in the states is.
I think you're absolutely wrong. I don't think it's anything nearly so specific. It's the idea of spotlight not exactly how it's accomplished. Did you read the lead story? The years 1996 and 1999 came up. Apple did not steal algorithms from 15 years ago to put in their state-of-the-art operating system.I have not read the patent, but I'm assuming it probably has more to do with the indexing and algorithms that go in to Spotlight's ability to produce results so quickly.
There are two elements with any software: the idea behind it and the code. The idea part of the software should not really be patentable or copyrightable.
The code itself can be and should be, since it prevents others from copy+paste![]()
Steve Jobs boasted in the past how he steals good ideas from others.
There's a YouTube video of him saying it around somewhere.
This software patent stuff must stop. Software patents should not be allowed.
One could argue that is was 'preexisting' due to Adam and Eve's like of the apple... (How ironic, ehh)
The real issue with these patents is how difficult it is to determine if what you are creating has already been created and patented.
It's not as easy as just typing "search on computer" and finding 3 companies that own the patent... Given the number of patents issued every year, it is a growing problem.
It is even more difficult if there is no current company using the technology in a product. (Which seems to be the case here.)
The man speaks truth.No smarty, what he's saying in regard to this is simple: IF you don't have a working model, as in designed, executed, and implemented...than you don't have a patent. Just drawing some pictures with a theoretical idea as in "software delivery of music through a web-based interface" is not remotely sufficient for a patent. But that's exactly what many of these patents are, it's akin to name squatting. The owners of these patents create them to be purposely vague in hopes of getting rich quick off of a company that creates something similar. Stop patenting ideas, and actually patent tangible things.
The owners of these patents create them to be purposely vague in hopes of getting rich quick off of a company that creates something similar. Stop patenting ideas, and actually patent tangible things.