ESP Wiki is looking for moderators and active contributors!

Software patents harm SMEs

Revision as of 12:43, 7 April 2010 by Ciaran (talk | contribs) (Reverted edits by 125.136.82.201 (Talk) to last revision by Ciaran)

During the lobbying around the EU software patents directive, representatives of small and medium enterprises were against software patents.

Reasons

SMEs can't afford to get patents. (See: costs of patenting)

The patent grant process is too slow. SMEs have to get to profitability quickly to survive.

SMEs can't afford to check every idea they come up with to make sure that it hasn't already been patented by someone else.

SMEs can't afford to defend themselves against patent litigation, even if they're sure the patent is invalid.

SMEs can't even get insurance against the risk of unintentional patent infringement (insurance companies know when a risk is too big to take on.)

The cost of patent enforcement might excede the size of revenue they would be trying to protect.

Statements

Studies

(See other studies on economics and innovation)

Related pages on ESP Wiki

External links