Steven Bellovin wrote: > We've all seen far too many really bad > patents issued, ones where prior art is legion. The (U.S.) patent > office seems to do a far better job of searching its own databases than > it does the technical literature. > > I know there are many philosophical reasons why many people oppose > software patents. But for others, there are very practical reasons: > there are too many bad patents issued. I think we can all agree that > stopping bad patents is a worthwhile goal, even if for some it's just > an intermediate goal. The times they are a-changin'. [1] Please take a look at what's happening at http://dotank.nyls.edu/communitypatent/. This is a GREAT place for the technical experts in IETF to become involved in busting bad patents before they are issued. After patents are issued, busting them nowadays is also easier than it used to be if we can present prior art to support reexamination by the PTO. Take a look at what's happening at http://www.pubpat.org/. The notion that each IETF working group has to approach patent issues on its own, without help, is silly. Set an enforceable IETF patent policy for free and open standards, and bring the technical community together through these groups (and others!) to bust the bad patents we encounter, and I think our problems with patents will ease substantially. /Larry BCC: Beth Noveck and Dan Ravicher [1] By Bob Dylan: Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'. Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'. For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin'. Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawn The curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'. _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf