(Highly Divided) Federal Circuit Opinion Finds Many Software Patents Ineligible

ais523 writes "The Federal Circuit has divided CLS Bank vs. Alice Corp., a case about various sorts of patents, including software patents. Although the judges disagreed, to a lesser or greater extent, on the individual parts of the ruling, more than half decided that the patents in question — algorithms for hedging risk — were ineligible patent matter, and that merely adding an 'on a computer'-like clause to an abstract algorithm does not make it patentable. Further coverage is available at Groklaw, or you can read the opinion itself (PDF)."

Good!

[Murdoch5]

Patents are the worlds most ridiculous form of protection ever invented. If your a company and you make a great product that it doesn't matter if someone comes to the market with the same product, if your product is better it will win out. Patents are "But Mom", of the business and technology world. Right now some companies are more focused on getting the patents to market then the product they protect. Patents destroy open development and open collaboration and take everything to a closed tangled web of lawyers and judges instead of the open work bench of weekend builders.

Re:Does that mean?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

By invading systems in the United States they are, in fact, violating US law.

Unlike the US, which by invading systems in Iran doesn't violate any law at all! :-)))