Author(s)
David S. Evans and Anne Layne-Farrar
Source
Virginia Journal of Law and Technology, Vol. 9, No. 10
Summary
This paper looks at whether software patents should be abolished.
Policy Relevance
Patent problems affect other technologies too, not just software. The better response is patent reform, not abolishing software patents.
Main Points
- Open source software lets users change the code to suit their own needs; open source code under the General Public License (GPL) must be distributed free.
- The holder of a software patent can stop the redistribution of software that uses the patented technique.
- Because open source can be redistributed by anyone, open source software developers worry that software patent holders will hinder the spread of open source.
- The U.S. Patent Office is improving software patent review.
- Empirical evidence shows innovators work around the problem of too many software patents (“patent thickets”). Standard-setting bodies are learning to avoid problems with patents.
- Software patents seem to have some positive effects, such as increasing the availability of venture capital.
