Stifling Innovation

Created by Jessica Duensing for opensource.com

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It's purpose is to encourage disclosure of innovations in return for the exclusive right to practice the invention for a period of time.  Like any other property, a patent can be sold, transferred, or abandoned.  The typical justification for patent law is that it encourages inventions to be made public; without this protection an inventor would be likely to keep the invention secret, with the possibility that the idea would be lost once the patent holder died.

In the software industry, however, patents are generally regarded as stifling innovation.  Software patents are often granted for technology that is considered obvious, such as the infamous "One-Click" patent granted to Amazon for an online shopping cart.  The U.S. Patent Office often lacks the expertise to be able to review patents based on advances in highly specialized fields of Computer Science, letting through patents where prior art should invalidate them.  Large companies buy up huge portfolios of patents to squelch competition from smaller companies or to protect themselves against lawsuits from other large companies.  Patent "trolls" purchase patents without any intention of creating a product based on the patent, but for the sole purpose of suing other companies that may infringe on the patent.  Lawsuits are often threatened for any remotely related technology, in the hopes that a large settlement and subsequent licensing revenue can be received.