UK High Court Follows Bad US Decision To Allow Software Patents

from the uh-oh dept

It looks like the UK is about to make the same dangerous mistake that US courts made a while back. A decision there has now stated that the Patent Office shouldn't automatically reject patent apps on software. Oddly, the Financial Times report on this only quotes those who seem to think this is a good thing. It quotes some patent attorneys (who, as a rule of thumb, generally want more things to be patentable) claiming this will help small companies better compete. This is actually the opposite of what's happened in the US since the Supreme Court made a similar decision allowing software patents about a decade ago. Since then, the patentability of software has only resulted in the rise of ridiculous patents and lawsuits often preventing small companies from actually being able to innovate. In fact, the US Supreme Court has been trying to back away from software patents recently. Given the vigorous protests against software patents in Europe, you would think that the FT reporter would at least look for an opposing viewpoint, rather than claiming straight up that this decision was a good one.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: patents, software patents, uk


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Got Milk, 28 Jan 2008 @ 4:45pm

    "It quotes some patent attorneys...claiming this will help small companies better compete"

    In related news dairy farmers say that a gallon of milk a day leads to a more active sex drive....

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 28 Jan 2008 @ 5:41pm

      Re:

      harrumph but the related excessive flatulence leads to less active sex life

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Jan 2008 @ 5:39pm

    Time to buy more milk!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Brian, 28 Jan 2008 @ 7:05pm

    RE: Got Milk

    And all this time I have been completely misunderstanding what my mom has been telling me about milk making bones grow strong.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    angry dude, 28 Jan 2008 @ 7:50pm

    Don't play smart ass, Mikey

    yeah, why do you think US and UK courts are both stupid ?
    Maybe it is you who are stupid ?

    And the only reason why Europe failed to pass some unified laws regadring so-called computer-implemented inventions a few yeara back is a bunch of brainwashed young idiots in "No software patents" T-shits runnung in circles around the Parliament and shouting FREEEEDOM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Freedom my ass

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 28 Jan 2008 @ 11:36pm

      Re: Don't play smart ass, Mikey

      You really have no life do you ?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Econ 101, 29 Jan 2008 @ 5:25am

      Re: Don't play smart ass, Mikey

      Because as we all know ...
      Monopolies = good
      Free Enterprise = bad

      AD, stop playing stupid.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    angry dude, 29 Jan 2008 @ 7:46am

    imbeciles

    What a bunch of brainless retards here on techdirt !!!!!!!!!

    Just venting out

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.