When reading this morning’s Slashdot headlines I thought the world must have turned upside down: Microsoft Calls For Patent Law Change. I wondered if Microsoft’s support of the current corrupt software patent system was coming back to haunt them. But what exactly is the reform they are proposing?
Microsoft also called for a patent system that is more accessible to small investors, and executives recommended that the U.S. Congress end patent filing fees for small companies, nonprofit groups, universities and individual inventors.
This will only make things worse. Increasing the the number of software patents will only increase the likelihood that the code you write is already “owned” by someone else. Furthermore:
For the small company, Microsoft’s generosity is a trojan horse. If it becomes easier for small software companies to gain a small patent of their own, then they will still need to negotiate cross licensing deals, for they would not be able to produce anything without access to patents others would then hold. Cross-licensing for patents for a small company under this new regime means surrendering it’s patent to the big guys who can then choose to copy it and compete with you, in return for the basic right to even enter the market. Yes, it is also a good way for large and lazy companies to acquire and capture the benefits of R&D of smaller ones.
Do not be fooled, Microsoft is not on the side of small business.