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law

Software Patents Considered Harmful

May 15, 2011 8:58:15.000

It's now long past time to take patents for software out back and shoot them. Heck, I might be convinced that patents in general aren't working any longer, but it's very clear in software. Consider the latest example of patent trolling:

A company called Lodsys claims to own four patents covering the in-app purchase mechanism found on iOS devices, and is seeking licensing fees from at least five individual developers, the Guardian reports. Some developers have received hand-delivered documents threatening patent infringement lawsuits if they don't pay up.

In what universe should that concept have been considered a patentable innovation?

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posted by James Robertson

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