Reading Dennis Crouch’s comments about patent reform in the US kind of shows how out of touch the anti-software patent movement really is.
Dennis sees three factions, with large software companies pushing for a weaker patent system, Big Pharma pushing for a stronger system, and independent inventors and small companies wanting the status quo.
Did I say that large software companies want a weaker patent system? Isn’t that the mantra of FFII, allegedly in the name of small businesses, rallying against the big software companies? Are they on the same side?
FFII and their ilk have tirelessly protested, rallying their troops by proclaiming that the big software companies will exert their patents to harm the small companies. When the truth is uncovered, the big companies are actually intimidated by the small companies, not the other way around. FFII, masquerading as a proponent of small businesses, has actually played into the big company’s hands, giving them even more power.
I see patents, software or otherwise, as one of the very low cost ways to build a formidable business tool to protect a marketplace. A patent is lower cost and often more effective than almost any other barrier to entry. This is one mechanism by which small inventors can carve out some value and build a business. Granted, a single patent may cost $10-20K or more, but it is far less expensive than a large marketing campaign, and much more effective at keeping competitors at bay.
The actions of these big companies in the current US patent law debate shows that all the academic papers, business theories, and scare tactics employed by FFII were 180 degrees out of phase with reality. In the end, FFII has done nothing but hurt the small businesses and help their (alleged) sworn enemies.
I don’t find this ironic; I find it sad. Not so much because the anti-software patent movement was supposed to help the small companies against the big ones, only to find out that they helped the big ones, but because FFII and the anti-software patent movement was very big on propaganda and very weak on business and economic theory. Using FFII’s theories, big software companies would have supported a strong patent system. However, the exact opposite is true. The fundamental theories relied upon by the anti-software patent movement have been proven wrong, dead wrong.
The sad part is that an effective dialog and debate never existed. Propaganda, protests, and loud baseless claims by FFII drowned out any reasoned debate long ago. This is the sad part. Reasoned, thoughtful debate could have spawned new mechanisms for helping the small businesses and disparate parties could have built something collaboratively better than the sum of its parts. Such a dialog takes two parties, but stopping the dialog only requires one.
