Comment Articles

Software patents need shelter from the storm

John Carroll ZDNet.com

Published: 17 Sep 2003 16:35 BST

Some parting thoughts
America is the largest software market in the world. America also has the most permissive patent regime in the world. Since most European companies will want to sell to that large market, they will be obliged to chase down patents in order to navigate America's patent minefield.

One might argue, therefore, that Europe's software changes make little difference, given that European software companies will still have to contend with software patents. I disagree. It is worthwhile for Europe to chart a different course while America conducts its experiment in software patents. Though various parties disagree as to whether software patents are good for the industry, the consensus seems to be that there isn't conclusive evidence as of yet whether software patents are a help or a hindrance.

I believe that once a final accounting is made, America's liberal software patent regime will prove more a hindrance. When that becomes clear, it would be worthwhile to have a working example in Europe to serve as a guide when America decides to alter its own laws.

As a final point, one of the motivations for the proposal before the European Parliament was the need to standardise patent rules across Europe. Enforcement is currently left to national governments, and the rules governing the patentability of software are sufficiently vague as to allow differences of opinion. A patent that was ruled invalid in the UK might pass muster in Germany.

Standardisation is a noble goal, and such a clarification is necessary if Europe is to create a unified market for software production which is competitive with America. I would suggest, however, that that standardisation should move away from a confirmation of software patents. Allow the parallel experiment in patent regimes to continue a bit longer. We already have one large market with liberal software patent laws (two if you include Japan). We don't need another until the evidence points to the clear benefits to be derived from software patents.

biography
John Carroll is a software engineer now living in Switzerland. He specialises in the design and development of distributed systems using Java and .Net. He is also the founder of Turtleneck Software.