

Giving Up On Patents - bensummers
http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/02/22/Patent-Fail

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bensummers
Note that the rules are different (and probably less broken) elsewhere in the
world. However, the US market has a tendency to affect people outside its
borders and force the system on others via treaties.

But right now, one option for non-US software startups is to sell only to
Europe and counties with sane patent systems.

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bootload
_"... However, the US market has a tendency to affect people outside its
borders and force the system on others via treaties. ..."_

That is an understatement ~ "IIPA would rather people "pirate" than switch to
legal competitors" ~ <http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/5115> The
<http://www.iipa.com/> represent publishers, music, picture, entertainment
software, business software. All American

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bensummers
I was trying to be polite about our colonial friends.

~~~
bootload
_"... I was trying to be polite about our colonial friends. ..."_

I always miss this from replies.

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mryall
Another article that recently reaffirmed my distaste for software patents is
this article on the future of web video by an x264 developer:

<http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=292>

In a summarising comment: "The best choice [for web video] will always be a
deeply patent-encumbered format until someone gets rid of software patents.
There is no other feasible solution."

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Roridge
Patents are so difficult to go with. Some people know they have the best idea
ever, spend the 13k to get a patent, and do good on it.

I'm not that confident that I could spend that much money upfront without a
guaranteed return (not to mention I don't have that much money).

Also I read lots about patents that are challenged because someone somewhere
else thought of it, and wrote it down 6 months before.

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nazgulnarsil
provisional patents only cost a couple hundred.

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ErrantX
Lawyer costs, though not compulsory, quickly push that up tenfold (we just
filed a patent - not for software though)

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zaphar
It's great to know that the he's given up on patents but for once I'd like one
of these guys to propose a workable way to _actually_ get rid of them.

I myself have no clue how you could go about it. But saying they have to go
without proposing a way to get rid of them doesn't actually help the issue
very much.

