Blocking innovation and research

Software patents stiffle innovation.

Software innovation happens without patents

Free software such as the GNU/Linux operating system were developed without patents. Free software includes a lot of innovation, so software innovation clearly doesn't depend on patents. Not only does software innovation happens without patents, but it actually happens better without patents.

Studies

• An Empirical Look at Software Patents "...We find evidence that software patents substitute for R&D at the firm level; they are associated with lower R&D intensity..."
• The EuroLinux petition - 400,000 signatures against the harm of software patents to innovation and competition

External links

• How Patent Trolls Are A Tax On Innovation, by venture capitalist Fred Wilson
• Markets Are Better Than Patents in Promoting Intellectual Discovery, Says Caltech-led Team of Economists