Patents

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Overview

Patents have increasingly become an issue in the information age as patents are granted in more and more areas which formerly were held to be "unpatentable", such as software, ideas, and knowledge of causal relationships.

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News and Editorials

2007-07-28 Congress moves to rewrite patent laws: "Crustless peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, a way to move sideways on a swing, a technique for exercising cats using a laser pointer – these are among the inventions patented in the United States over the years. Now Congress is trying to cut down on poor-quality or downright ridiculous patents, and at the same time adapt the patent system to a high-tech era in which computers and other electronic devices may contain thousands of patentable parts."
2007-06-08 Peer-to-Patent Project begins one-year trial run next week
2007-05-04 India's elephant in the room: Weak patent laws
2007-03-07 Patently Ridiculous: a very clear statement of the problem, and a relatively non-radical solution
2006-09-12 ~~How Hartmut Pilch, Avid Computer Geek, Bested Microsoft~~ (now requires login) by Mary Jacoby: "Foe of Software Patents, He Prevailed With Europe; Next, a Court Battle"
2006-09-08 No Happy Ending for Net Movie Renters (slashdot): Netflix sues Blockbuster for stealing the concept of renting movies over the Internet
2006-08-18 Court order to shut down DISH DVRs blocked: video time-shifting is apparently patented?
2006-03-19 This Essay Breaks the Law by Michael Crichton (slashdot)
2005-10-26 Patents Kill by Annalee Newitz, AlterNet

Quotes

Thomas Jefferson on Patents and Freedom of Ideas
Ben Franklin on Patents, with commentary by Scott Carpenter

Sites

Petition for a Software Patent Free Europe: "This petition['s] goal is to warn European Authorities against the dangers of software patents." Includes link to European patent law prohibiting patents on software and a number of other types of innovation