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In Diamond vs. Chakrabarty, the United States Supreme Court ruled that patents could be granted for "anything under the sun that is made by the hand of man." That includes software. Law practice tip: If you need to argue in court that software is not patentable, point out that Chakrabarty does not apply to software because it is not made "under the sun" -- excessive screen glare makes it impossible to program under the sun, and the case was silent on whether anything made in a windowless room is patentable.
Re: Patent-Free Does Not Necessarily Mean Worry-Free
Posted by: erichbf 2004-08-03 19:58:19 In reply to: Phil Albert
This article is dangerously parochial. Having spent parts of the last six summers in Europe, I can say that there is a high likelihood that software patents WILL NOT pass in Europe. So the current USA IP regime is unlikely to become a world standard. The so called Third world has much less reason to embrace the US IP regime then Europe has. Just look at Brazil, China, and India.
Please comment on what the European software landscape will look like under a software-patent-free IP regime.
I think the USA will, once they recognize how unwise it is to allow software patents, harmonize its laws with those of the rest of the world in this regard. The sooner we do that the sooner our economies will reap the benefits of FOSS.
Erich Friesen
Architect
St. Louis, MO
Please comment on what the European software landscape will look like under a software-patent-free IP regime.
I think the USA will, once they recognize how unwise it is to allow software patents, harmonize its laws with those of the rest of the world in this regard. The sooner we do that the sooner our economies will reap the benefits of FOSS.
Erich Friesen
Architect
St. Louis, MO
