Software patents. They seem to be handed out like candy. They can be used like a nuclear bomb.
As a software developer, I approach the idea of software patents cautiously. I wonder if they are a good or bad idea. My gut feeling is that they are a bad idea -- stifling innovation, mainly. In-app upgrades?! Sometimes they seemingly obvious in their implementation that you believe a monkey could've come up with that. One-click shopping?!
Software patents are around because the patent office is lazy. They can't be bothered to find a prior implementation of most pending patent submittals.
Software is fuzzy. Patents on it seem to be too general to be of value.
The patent system needs to be fixed.
Labels: lotd, software development, your rights