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Raising examination standards

Revision as of 22:47, 7 November 2010 by 24.107.137.110 (talk) (deleted incorrect discussion of 2010 Guidelines Update. The blog selectively quoted the guidelines out of context, and its analysis is incorrect. See discussion page for details.)

Red alert.png What this entry documents is not a solution.
This practice may be ineffective or useless in the long term.
ESP's position is that abolition of software patents is the only solution.


Raising examination standards would reduce the total number of software patents granted, but given that most patent problems involve multiple patents, and given that one patent is enough to block development, a reduction would not solve many problems.

Standards example: MPEG

MPEG LA represents a pool of over 1,000 patents which it claims are essential for an implementation of the H.264 video format.[1] Many of these are duplicates (one for each country), so maybe there are 100 patents (each with around 20 claims).

If the numbers of these patents are reduced by 10%, 50%, or even 95%, it will allow free formats to adopt the features claimed in these patents. But there will still be no change to the fact that implementing the original format requires permission from MPEG LA.

A format like MPEG that is covered by a large number of interlocking patents is a worst case scenario. Some other formats are covered by only one or a few patents, and busting those patents would allow the format to be used freely.

Slight benefit

The result would be to reduce the number of software patents granted. This should reduce the problems caused by patent trolls.

When encouraging the raising of patent examination standards, it's very important that your work is not misunderstood as showing support for "high quality" software patents. Always phrase your support like: "Raising the standards is a step in the right direction, but even 'high quality' software patents are harmful to society. The right thing to do is get rid of software patents entirely".

Related pages on ESP Wiki

External links

References