Software patents and other dubious nonsense

Those who are no friends of software patents and other intellectual monopolies may wish to have a look at the following set of posts:

• Sun picks away at NetApp's patent claims

The war-of-words between Sun Microsystems and NetApp over patent infringement claims wages on, while legal means to settle the matter have failed.

The two companies tried to sit down this week for a settlement conference, but judging by Sun's response of publicly boasting that it has removed at least one of NetApp's patents from the litigation and declaring the legal scuffle a war between ideologies — we'd say the mediation wasn't entirely a success.

• Book Review: Markman at the Beach

The book is a real treat for those who like intellectual property (despite the anti-patent message of the book) and may offer something for the generalist reader who likes to get lost in a legal thriller while basking in the summer sun.

• Back-Door Maximalist Intellectual Monopolies

Patents would be turned into a customs issue (whaaat?), and there would be no need actually to show that an infringement happened in order to start a "procedure".... In other words, this SECURE (and for the name, see here) is about extending the RIAA's intimidatory tactics to the whole of intellectual monopolies, and globally.

• Blogging at LegalTech: West Coast Style

nteroperability continues to be a major issue. New systems are built on proprietary standards, increasing the cost of installation, while an older but effective system loses support when its maker merges with another vendor and decides to let that product fade into history.

We'll be back to posting at the regular high pace tomorrow. ⬆