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Red Hat's open letter asking for a limit to software patents |
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Written by Felix Da Silva (fdasilva@bitnip.com)
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Thursday, 10 April 2008 |
 Red Hat took a public stand by challenging the standards for patenting software. In the Biliski case that is now before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, this patent issue is ripe for consideration.
In Red Hat's open letter by Rob Tiller, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, he says that
Open source software is one of the most dynamic, innovative sectors of the U.S. economy, but the U.S. patent system is a costly hindrance to open source innovation. We believe that although the patent system was created to foster innovation, it’s simply not an engine for innovation for open source. He goes on to make a great point that,
Today the patent system is, if anything, a hindrance to open source. Developers face the risk that the original code they have written in good faith could be deemed to infringe an existing software patent. It’s impossible to rule out this possibility, because there are now more than 200,000 software patents, and those patents cannot be efficiently searched. He ends his letter with this,
In the Bilski case now pending in the Federal Circuit, the appeals court will address the issue of the boundaries of the subject matter that may be patented...we urge in our brief that it take account of the perverse effects of the patent system on open source and narrow the standard for patentability. I couldn't agree more with Rob Tiller. I find that the state of software patents in the US is getting out of control in comparison to the EU and something needs to be done about it.
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