Week 4 - Post 1: Limiting Software Patents

        Google, Facebook, and JP Morgan Chase & Co. have all teamed up together to lobby for the U.S. courts to make stricter rules about what type of software can be patented, thus making it easier and less expensive to weed out frivolous and time-consuming lawsuits.  However most interestingly, by supporting stricter rules about software patents, these companies are signaling that they do not wish to engage in patent lawsuits any longer.  Google especially must be tired of fighting patent lawsuits off from both their mobile device and search-engine fronts, notably with Apple, and this alliance with Facebook and JP Morgan will allow them to do so.

        Ten judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals, "...heard arguments about how to distinguish software innovations from programs that computerize unpatentable ideas...".  I wonder what the court will decide upon to be the definition of unpatentable ideas?  Here is an obvious instance in which non-partial and unbiased programming and technology consultants should be involved in helping to decide what the ruling on this case will be.  Were these companies to have their way, the patent wars of today may be long gone in several months, and many of the frivolous litigation of the past will no longer have to be a concern for today's inventors and researchers.  I personally hope that the court appeal for tighter software patent law goes through, as this will allow more freedom within the technology industry to experiment and fully develop more of their ideas, which in the long run can only help the economy.  

Here is the link to the article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-08/google-joins-jpmorgan-in-seeking-software-patent-limits.html