A bubble waiting to burst
The problem of speculation is that by granting software patents which are mostly not being used as a property right (not going to court) but which are being as proof for financial deals, we're moving to a situation where one day there will be companies failing and then they'll start looking for what money their patents can get them. This could aggravate the patent troll problem if failing software companies look to outsource the monetising of their patents to "experts".
(Can someone check if I've understood this: In the USA, a Federal Circuit court confirmed that when a patent is used to secure a loan, and the loan goes unpaid, the transfer of a patent by foreclosure does indeed allow the new owner to enforce the patent.[1])
Contents
Microsoft against speculators
In the 2009 i4i v. Microsoft court case, the Microsoft lawyers compared i4i inc. to the banks asking for bailouts.[2]
Andy Grove
(See also: Andy Grove on software patents)
David Martin
(See also: David Martin on software patents)
- Will the patent system trigger financial collapse in 2008?
- In the comments of that article there are some links that might have good information on Basel and patents
Basel II
Basel II is not directly interesting, but it sets (or might set) some rules for evaluating things such as patents, so it may be of interest for some very specific issues.
- Wikipedia: Basel II
- Will the patent system trigger financial collapse in 2008?
- In the comments of that article there are some links that might have good information on Basel and patents
External links
- Microsoft sells patents that allegedly cover GNU/Linux - which I guess is an attempt to make money from those in the speculation market (See: Buying harmful patents)
- The Patent Bubble... Still Growing, by Brian Kahin, 2008
- Live IP Auction Catalogue - a 2009 auction of software patents from a company which is involved in neither software nor patents
- Comparing The Mortgage Bubble To The Patent Bubble, Oct 10th 2008, TechDirt
References
