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The Problem of Software Patents in Standards

ABSTRACT

Patents, originally created to stimulate innovation, may now be having the opposite effect, at least in the software industry. Plagued by an exponential growth in software patents, many of which are not valid, software vendors and developers must navigate a potential minefield to avoid patent infringement and future lawsuits. Coupled with strategies to exploit this confusion over patents, especially in standards setting organizations, [1] - thanks to perens.com More details.

How Software Patents Find Their Way Into Standards

The most likely way for a software patent to find its way into an industry standard is innocent inclusion by people who are not aware of the existence of the patent. However, the same factors that make innocent inclusion possible work to the favor of the deliberate patent farmer. Those factors are:[2] - thanks to perens.com More details.

Policies of Individual Standards Organizations

The most carefully stated patent policy in a standards organization to date is that of the World Wide Web Consortium. Led by Tim Berners-Lee, who is widely hailed as the inventor of the Web, this organization counts among its members most of the leading companies concerned with the Internet, as well as a number of educational and nonprofit organizations. After several years of argument, W3C determined that all patents incorporated into W3C standards must have royalty-free licenses. Then they went on to address,[3] - thanks to perens.com More details.