2010-01-07

IPWatchdog thinks those "not interested in software patents are not innovators"

I have long kept an eye on IPWatchdog, a popular patents law blog authored by Gene Quinn, a patent attorney in the US. I have valued his reports for some time even though we have quite different ideas about what should be patentable. But sadly now, in the wake of the Supreme Court Bilski case, it seems he has gone over the edge with blatant statements like:
"Those in the software industry who are not interested in software patents are not innovators, they are copiers. They steal the work of others. " in The Fundamental Unfairness of Retroactively Applying Bilski

I think this started when Mr Quinn totally flipped in his comments in this previous post where Ian Clark, a highly regarded software engineer and entrepreneur took issue with the attorneys ideas.

However blatant, this kind of proves him wrong on so many levels it also gives me good hope for reforms in the patent area in 2010! Innovation is not just about patents Mr. Quinn and certainly proven so in the software field.

/jonas