Software Patent Bits for February 12th:
- U.K. patent office ordered to accept software patent [Computer World] –
"At issue is a patent that Symbian Ltd. applied for and that was rejected in July 2007 by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office (IPO). Symbian sought a patent for a system that makes accessing dynamic link libraries — or files used by more than one application — more reliable. The IPO rejected the application, saying that the innovation was computer code, which is not patentable. The Court of Appeals, however, overturned the decision on Tuesday and said the system is patentable." - Patents and FOSS — Rob Tiller of Red Hat at SCALE 7x — Southern California Linux Expo –
Rob Tiller, vice president and assistant general counsel, IP for Red Hat, will explore the legal issues raised by patent law for FOSS developers and users. Tiller will provide an overview for non-lawyers on exclusionary patent rights and contrast those with the open collaboration culture of FOSS. He will also discuss the recent Bilski decision of the U.S. Federal Circuit, and how that decision might improve the current problem of software patents facing FOSS developers.