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Who owns software patents

This page is for looking into who holds software patents - big companies? small? local? foreign? etc.

SMEs or large corporations?

The 2008 Berkeley Patent Survey found that only 25% of software companies less than 10 years old had patents.[1]

A 2004 study by the BSA (which lobbies for software patents) showed that only 20% of software patents granted in Europe are to small businesses.[2] (In that study, they used the term "computer-implemented inventions", but they clarified near the beginning that it was a synonym for "software patents")

Can you help? Can someone check how they measure the following numbers


According to this study, small companies patent 13 to 14 times more than big companies:

Related pages on ESP Wiki

External links

In the USA

In Europe

References

  1. "Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (Part I of III)". http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2010/07/patenting-by-entrepreneurs-the-berkeley-patent-survey-part-i-of-iii-1.html. "As expected, this figure varies widely by industry—for example, 97% of venture-backed biotechnology companies hold patents or applications, while only 67% of venture-backed software startups do. And among the general population of software startups responding, the rate was only about 25%." 
  2. "BSA figures do not add up". http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/it-strategy/2005/06/24/bsa-figures-do-not-add-up-39205463/. "A recent study by the Business Software Alliance indicates that SMEs account for 20% of all CII (Computer Implemented Inventions) patents granted since 1998"