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Internet Patents: Giving Away the Store

Dec 23, 1999  By LJ Editors
 in
Bryan Pfaffenberger Absurdly broad patents on Internet business methods are a bad idea, and not just because they distort competition in e-commerce. They also reveal what's wrong with all software patents—and why they must be abolished.
References and Selected Readings

Andrews, Edmund L. (1992) “There's Cash in Mining the Courts”, New York Times(November 6, 1992): D2.

Barnes, Bart (1999) “Giles S. Rich Dies at 95: Oldest Active Federal Judge in U.S. History; As an Authority on Patent Law, He Helped Establish Legal Precedents for the Biotechnology and Computer Industries”, New York Times (June 11, 1999): B6.

Benkler, Yochai (1999) “Free As the Air to Common Use: First Amendment Constraints on Enclosure of the Public Domain”, New York University Law Review (May, 1999).

Gibby, John A. (1997) “Software Patent Developments: A Programmer's Perspective”, Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal, 23:293-355.

Kaufman, Leslie (1999) “Amazon Sues Big Bookseller Over System for Shopping”, New York Times (October 23, 1999): C1.

Keeley-Domokos, Francisc M. (1999) “State Street Bank & Trust Co. vs. Signature Financial Group, Inc.”, Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 14.

King, Julia (1999) “Net Patents Stir Debate; Critics Say Established Ways of Doing Business Granted Protection in Cyberspace”, ComputerWorld (August 23, 1999).

Kreiss, Robert A (1999) “Patent Protection for Computer Programs and Mathematical Algorithms: The Constitutional Limitations on Patentable Subject Matter”, New Mexico Law Review, 29 (Winter, 1999).

Melges, Robert P. (1999) “As Many As Six Impossible Patents Before Breakfast: Property Rights for Business Concepts and Patent System Reform”, Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 14.

Newell, A. (1986) “The Models Are Broken! The Models Are Broken.” Univ. of Pittsburgh Law Rev. 47, 1023 (1986).

Samuelson, Paula (1990a) “Should Program Algorithms Be Patented?” Communications of the ACM, 33(8): 23-28.

Samuelson, Paula (1990b) “Benson Revisited: The Case Against Patent Protection for Algorithms and Other Computer-Related Program Inventions”, Emory Law Journal, 39.

Stallman, Richard, and Simson Garfinkle, “Against Software Patents”, Communications of the ACM, 35:17-24.

Thrum, Scott (1998) “A Flood of Web Patents Stirs Dispute Over Tactics”, Wall Street Journal (October 9, 1998): B1.

Weber, Thomas E. (1999) “Battles Over Patents Threaten to Damp the Web's Innovative Spirit”, Wall Street Journal (November 8, 1999): B1.

Zahraldin, Rafael X. (1992) “ The Effect of Broad Patent Scope on the Competitiveness of United States Industry”, Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, 17.

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Thanks for your great post

Sizzling Swimsuits 's picture
Submitted by Sizzling Swimsuits (not verified) on Sat, 08/21/2010 - 16:38.

Thanks for your great post and giving a chance to let us know about the history of patent law. Your post is so informative and I liked it so much. Regards, Mike Hudson, RadientGear

E-commerce is the most

rome apartments's picture
Submitted by rome apartments (not verified) on Fri, 04/17/2009 - 08:43.

E-commerce is the most wanted thing these days. And thanks to you for letting us all know about patent law history.....Atleast I was unaware of this matter. E-commerce is such a field about which everyone wants to gather as much information as possible.

Bolderdash - I disagree!

BSEE + MSCS's picture
Submitted by BSEE + MSCS (not verified) on Thu, 01/18/2007 - 07:38.

Dear Editors,

Thank you for the history of patent law wrt software & the internet.
I found this to be one of the best summaries I've ever seen and very useful.
All your logic and arguments make sense, except when you begin to blurr what a scientific truth is versus an algorithm. I don't see it. I'm fairly well educated and do not intend to go back to college - actually I never left. I'm now working on a PhD, part time. Turing and/or others may have shown that not all "problems" (Note: Not algorithms) can be solved in finite time. However, it doesn't follow that all algorithms are physical laws of nature. For example, which law of nature is it that says you can execute/commit an internet purchase with a single mouse click? I'm not arguing that Amazon's one-click patent will hold up in court, nor that it should have been awarded. I would take issue with this portion of this patent based on its simplicity and obviousness. However, as they say, hind-sight is 20-20.
Try to think of patentable software (some not all) as the distillation of a process into an algorithm that is hardware independent. Obviously it must execute on hardware to be useful, but the essence of the process doesn't really care what type of hardware it executes on, or if practical, even if it's done manually. Many processes that can be implemented in specialized hardware, can also be implemented in software on generic hardware, or done manually. I doubt you would have a problem with patenting a process if it were implemented in specialized hardware. So why argue against patenting the underlying process?
My advice to you is that if you don't see this - don't go back to college. Education is not the issue. My guess is that you have an axe to grind and for some reason you are a bit prejudice against software. I've encoutered this sort of attitude many times in my career over the past 30 years, as software and computers (e.g. generic hardware) has moved to the forefront, often displacing specialized hardware skills. I'm curious, are or were you guy ever hardware engineer(s) or just history buffs?

:-)

Best Regards,
BS-EE + MSCS

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