Software patents and venture capital

An argument often made in support of software patents is that attracting investment will be harder without them. Clearly this isn’t always the case. US venture capitalist Brad Feld has written an open letter against software patents:

In more recent years, patents on software have been granted – hundreds of thousands of patents. These patents cover essential techniques in computer programming, and their existence is having a chilling effect on the startup companies that I work with… Venture capitalist like me, who work with new innovative start-ups can testify that software patents have a chilling effect on the market.

He joins a number of other venture capitalists who have expressed similar sentiments. Now, this is not an either/or situation. There is no doubt that many investors have been, and will continue to be, attracted by a potentially lucrative software patent. But comments such as Feld’s highlight the potential “chilling effects” of software patents, as seen by some investors, and also (further) dispel the myth that software patents are necessary for investment – as reflected by the fact that a huge amount of IT investment has always occurred in situations without software patents.

See also: Protecting IP in a post-software patent environment

Waiting for Bilski

Feld’s letter also highlights the long-awaited Bilksi decision. The case has attracted attention for the potentially major implications on the US patent system – of relevance to all patent-holders including in New Zealand – as well as the long wait for judgment.

Defamation by hyperlink

A US court ruling that “forwarding a link to defamatory material can be considered defamation” has caused some consternation, showing again that, thanks largely to constitutionally protected free speech, US defamation laws are rather less stringent than in New Zealand. Under New Zealand / English common law, such actions have long been capable of being defamatory. For example, in the old case of Hird v Wood (1894) 38 SJ 234, a Court found that a man sitting in a chair and pointing at another person’s defamatory sign contributed to the defamation. If linking is “innocent”, however, the publisher has a defence.