FSF Calls Software Patents A Disease Amid COVID-19 Crisis, USPTO A Super-Spreader

[phoronix]

Phoronix: FSF Calls Software Patents A Disease Amid COVID-19 Crisis, USPTO A Super-Spreader

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has renewed their attacks against the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and software patents in general, this time in relation to the COVID-19 / coronavirus crisis...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=FSF-Software-Patents-Disease

[wizard69]

if the patent office is a disease the FSF must be one aggressive cancer.

[pranav]

Is it only me, or ... I could understand how actually FSF is fighting back? Details are very little.

[wswartzendruber]

If the FSF wants to improve things, they could give us GPLv4 without the anti-Tivoization clause and remove the relinking requirement from LGPL.

[programmerjake]

software patents just need to go away, copyright is sufficient for software

[vladpetric]

As much as I dislike software patents, comparing it to something that's killed ~500k people (official numbers; real numbers from China/Iran/Russia are likely much higher) in ~5 months and worldwide shows no signs of abating, is highly inappropriate.

Keep in mind that there's also the Bilski vs Kappos decision, which does reduce the bite of software patents.

[chuckula]

Oh puhleeaze FSF, get with the program.

Blaming ${Person_Group_Thing} you don't like for Covid and calling it worse than Covid is SO March 2020.

The angry mob has moved on and you need to get with the times!

It's JUNE 2020, and now the correct thing to do is call ${Person_Group_Thing} you don't like RACIST. Get with the times or else somebody will call you racist too!

I think this ad should be slapped with a trigger warning for showing outdated attitudes.

[edwaleni]

I think (if I understand this correctly) is that the USPTO is in a rush to patent items related to fighting back on COVID are instead getting swamped with people submitting applications for items that were already designed for free use. (either via 3d print or through special chemical processes in microbiology)

With the USG "fast tracking" so much process to get a COVID cure people are doing what people do when the government gets in a hurry. They commit fraud.

Usually people who create libre type products dont have the resources to fight back to contest a USPTO decision, so the FSF is rising up to combat a general rip off of the libre community.

[hvis]

It doesn't say patents are worse than Covid, and it doesn't blame USPTO for Covid either.

Have you read the post? It's very sensible.

[hvis]

Usually people who create libre type products dont have the resources to fight back to contest a USPTO decision, so the FSF is rising up to combat a general rip off of the libre community.

Not just of the libre community. Proprietary vendors will be also at risk, though perhaps to a somewhat lower extent, in cases where it might be harder to notice/prove that a closed program "infringes", for some kinds of patents.