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Difference between revisions of "Costly legal costs"

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{{navbox}}Software development, like writing a book or making music, is something that's done by individuals and hobbyists. Indeed, a lot of [[free software]] was written by non-paid individuals.  Their freedom to write software is important, and the software they write is important for society.  The patent system is too expensive for them, and always will be.
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The costs of participating in the patent system are wildly expensive compared to the cost of entering and participating in software development and distribution.
 
 
 
If a patent holder demands €5,000, and a law firm offer's to analyse your risk for €10,000 - where's the smart money?  In software, many developers don't have a team of patent experts, and most don't have large reserves of cash in the bank to analyse and defend against patent threats.
 
 
 
==Why is software different==
 
 
 
In fields such as manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, one can assume that practitioners have a certain amount of money since they will have had to buy and equip a factory and they will have to pass various safety tests.  Also, since they pay dearly to be in business, it's safe to assume that people in these fields aim to make a profit from their work.
 
 
 
For software, most people have all the necessary equipment in their homes, and many people develop software without receiving any direct income from doing so.  This means the law can't assume that software developers have the money to defend themselves or to get their own patents.
 
 
 
==The costs==
 
 
 
In the [[USA]], according to Dan Ravicher, the cost of getting a legal opinion after receiving a patent threat letter is $40,000 and the cost of defending one's self against a patent suit is $2-4 million.<ref>http://www.pubpat.org/ftisaswptpresentation.htm - slide 12</ref>
 
 
 
==Related pages on {{SITENAME}}==
 
 
 
* [[Calculating infringement damages in the USA]]
 
* [[2008 State of Software Patents]]
 
* [[Costs of the patent system to governments]]
 
* [[Divine e-commerce patents]]
 
* [[Invalid patents remain unchallenged]]
 
 
 
==External links==
 
 
 
* Patently-o: [http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2009/08/patent-office-keeps-check-lets-patent-go-abandoned-for-being-10-short.html Patent Office Keeps Check, Lets Patent Go Abandoned For Being $10 Short] a patent holder says "''not an attorney but a pauper disabled living on a fixed income (SSI) who cannot pay $200 to petition your office.''" so he will lose his patent
 
* [http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/business/brussels-brokers-eu-wide-patenting-breakthrough-437002.html EU hopes to lower the cost of a case to €200,000] - so even the best case scenario is ludicrously expensive
 
* [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/04/mckool_smith_lawsuit_update/ 3D patent suit extended to Dell, HP, IBM, Sony, others] - "''Manufacturers would need to pay a patent lawyer a lot of money to decipher whether they're even in violation of the more complex ones or not.''"
 
 
 
==References==
 
<references />
 
 
 
 
 
{{page footer}}
 
[[Category:Arguments]]
 
[[Category:Costs]]
 

Revision as of 04:48, 29 May 2010

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