Re: About Computer Software and Patents

> IMHO, patent law should NOT apply to software at all! I think that copyright
> provides more than adequate (if too long) protection. The added protection
> such as covering independent origination is too smothering when applied to
> software, as are many of the other patent rules.
>
> Sincerely
> Henry Manaster

     Henry, I represent many fine electrical engineers who have made significant contributions to science, at least applied science, over the years. We call them inventors, and part of the motivation for inventors is the patent system. In recent years, with the price/performance curve for microprocessors and the like being what it is, these engineers have found that they can do more, do it better, and do it cheaper in SOFTWARE. I do not understand why you would now exclude them from the patent system because they choose to implement certain inventions in software rather than hardware. Many people feel that important new inventions going forward are going to be done in software. Hardware is a relatively mature field. Is the patent system no longer useful?

     I would also remind you that the examination process, imperfect as it may be, attempts to grant patents only for novel, nonobvious inventions. Copyright protection applies to damn near anything (the threshold of creativity being extremely low -- see Feist); and there is no meaningful examination of a copyright registration application -- it is merely formal.

     Your comment about the term of protection raises another issue. U.S. Patents have a maximum life of 17 years after issue. It can take several years before a patent issues, so the effect is "delayed". Most other countries grant a patent for 20 years following the date of *application*. We may be headed that direction.

---
Micah Stolowitz
Marger Johnson McCollom & Stolowitz, P.C.	
Patent, Trademark and Copyright Attorneys				
650 American Bank Building, Suite 650					
Portland, Oregon  97205				
 	 

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