Recently, there is an issue arise on the patent protection of software. This has emerged as there is a case between Alice corporation and CLS Bank arises in the Supreme Court of U.S. , that could severly affect local business, both at large and small scale.
People think that if softwares are patented then they can protect technology, ideas and the whole life of the company, but even some of the big groups such as Google, Adobe and others don’t support this idea of patenting software.
Adobe’s technology staff said that software patents harm the industry without any corresponding benefits and also gumming up innovation. According to them, their company spends more money on patent lawsuits than on development of technology.
There is a problem with the software patients also, like they have become weapons for those organizations that exist solely to file infringement lawsuits and collect licensing fees. These organizations rely on outdated and overly broad patents that they use to lay claim to new technology.
The potential of a lawsuit from companies like Lodsys that owns four patents is a concern for smaller firms like his. Lodsys provide rights for uses such as interactive advertisements, in-app purchases, subscription models and the collection of user data. Their main target is individual developers and small scale software companies who cannot afford to fight in the court, regarding this issue.