Bonum Certa Men Certa

Large Corporations, Including Microsoft Allies, Call for Abolition of Software Patents

Physical patents are being depreciated

Toyota



Summary: The calls for ending all patents on software are getting louder and patents as a whole are de-emphasised as a business strategy

TECHRIGHTS has fought against software patents for over 8 years. Major progress has been made since we started doing this and thousands of articles published about it here alone. We depended on various voices and other (external) articles, but not always were these prominent. Things have changed. As we are going to show today (a series of 4 posts), the push against patents on software and sometimes patents as a whole is measurably effective.



"They are not Free software enthusiasts or some obscure startups or even opinionated anarchists; these are businesspeople."An article published this week by Hannah Breeze in the British branch of ChannelWeb says that "Pure Storage's mission to reform the US patent system has gathered speed today as fellow storage firm Avere Systems calls for software patents to be scrapped altogether."

"Last week, flash newcomer Pure Storage called on the US government to make sweeping changes to the system of granting patents in the US, claiming the 20-year term stifled innovation among startups.

"Pure called on the government to cut the patent term to just five years and to introduce a "use it or lose it" clause to target so-called patent trolls which buy up patents purely to profit from them through legal challenges.

"Today, Avere Systems' co-founder and chief technology officer Mike Kazar ramped up the pressure and said software patents in general should be axed."

This good article contains many direct quotes of the top people. They want software patents dead. They are not Free software enthusiasts or some obscure startups or even opinionated anarchists; these are businesspeople.

Over in India, where software patents are still a hot topic. Infosys Chief Vishal Sikka speaks out unequivocally against all software patents (not a 'soft' criticism). This is all over the news in India (leading newspapers too) as a top manager, a CEO of a Microsoft partner (one of the biggest partners if not the biggest), says so. Here is some coverage that we found about it:



This was also mentioned less directly in the following articles about a similar event:



There are other large companies that disown patents as a whole. Tesla neutralised a lot of patents recently and as noted last week, Toyota was following a similar route by releasing 5,680 co-called "Fuel Cell Patents" for inspiration and use without fear of litigation (nothing to do with "open source" as a lot of publications put it). Here is some coverage from the news [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Given the parallels between Toyota and Microsoft, in addition to Infosys slamming software patents, one might wonder where the anti-FOSS camp is heading. Microsoft's anti-FOSS strategy that relied on patents largely failed. See where Novell and SUSE are today.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Linux Journal Might Have Become the Latest Slopfarm Targeting "Linux", the Trends Are Concerning for Dying News Sites
They tarnish the Web with junk and then die
On "Learning to Code"
quality may suffer, plus things get bloated
Quick Points Regarding This Week's Court Hearing
it paves the way for us to squash all the SLAPPs from Microsofters
 
"Six years of Gemini!"
From gemini://geminiprotocol.net
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Summer Updates and Hardware Failures
Links for the day
Links 20/06/2025: Google Shareholder Sues Google and Google Sued for Defamatory Slop ('Hey Hi') Word Salads ('Summaries')
Links for the day
Common Mistake: Believing Social Control Media Will Document Your Writings/Thoughts and Search Engines Like Google Will Help You Find These
Many news sites wrongly assumed that posting directly to Twitter would be acceptable
The Manchester Bees and This Hot Summer
We have had a fantastic week so far this week
Gemini Protocol Enters Its Seventh Year, Growth Has Accelerated!
Maybe in June 20 2026 there will be over 3,500 active capsules?
Mastodon and the Fediverse Have an Issue: Liability for Content (Even in Other Instances) and Costs
self-hosting is the only logical path forward
Why Microsoft and Its 'Hey Hi' (Slop) Frenzy Fail While Sinking in Deep, Growing Debt
Right now, like Twitter around the time it was sold to MElon, "open" "hey hi" is a big pile of debt with a lot to pay for that debt (interest payments)
Europe is Leaving Microsoft, the Press Coverage Isn't Sufficiently Helpful
The news is generally positive, but the press coverage leaves so much to be desired
Slopwatch: Linuxsecurity, BetaNews, and Linux Journal
slippery slope
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 19, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Gemini Protocol Turns 6!
Links for the day
Links 19/06/2025: Ghostwriting Scam and Fentanylware (TikTok) Buying Time
Links for the day
Microsoft's Windows is a Niche Operating System in Africa
African nations aren't a large contributor to Microsoft's income, but if many African nations move away from Windows, then the monopoly is at risk
Gemini Links 19/06/2025: Unix Primitivism, Zine Club, and Gemini Protocol Turns 6 at Midnight
Links for the day
Links 19/06/2025: WhatsApp Identified as Assassination 'Crosshairs', Patreon Now Rips Off People Even More
Links for the day
"Told You So": Another Very Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs Now Confirmed in Mainstream Media
So we were right to believe the rumours, based on the credibility of prior such rumours
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 18, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Gemini Links 18/06/2025: Magit and Farming
Links for the day
Slopwatch: BetaNews is Now a Slopfarm (Like Linuxsecurity) and Google News is Overwhelmed by Slopfarms
The Web is bad
Links 18/06/2025: SCOTUS Decision on Fentanylware (TikTok) Still Ignored, 4.5-Day Work Weeks
Links for the day
Links 17/06/2025: Windows TCO and G7 Rifts
Links for the day
The Right to Know and the Freedom to Report on Crime (at the Higher Echelons)
I'd like to do the same thing for the next 20 years
BetaNews Appears to Have Fired All Of Its Staff
Even serial sloppers
After the Web Becomes Slopped to Death
A lot of people are rightly fed up with the "modern" Web
Gemini Protocol Turns 6 on Friday
Active (online) Gemini capsules are estimated by Lupa at over 3,000
Like Most Social Control Media, Microsoft LinkedIn is Collapsing
One reason for Microsoft acquisitions is debt-loading, i.e. offloading and burying its debt
Microsoft is Losing Its Richest Clients
Unlike some very poor countries, Germany and the EU are a considerable source of income to Microsoft
Proprietary Means Not Secure
Proprietary software tends to rely on secrecy, not good design
Slop in 'AI' Clothing is a Passing Fad, We'll Get Past It (Like Blockchain Before That)
Many people cheat in exams using slop and there are professionals that try using slop as a "shortcut"
GNOME Does Not Campaign Against Microsoft, KDE Does
It's good to see that KDE is still active in promotion of Free software - a term that it uses
Slopwatch: BetaNews, Linuxsecurity, and Other Prolific Slopfarms
name and shame the sites that establish such proliferation of slop
Gemini Links 18/06/2025: Birch Lake and Loon Pond
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 17, 2025