New Partnership Strives to Improve Quality of US Software Patents

As recent patent disputes such as the RIM-NTP case have made headlines, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is now working with IBM, Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and others to improve the examination of software patents. The group has decided to use a searchable database with an index of open-source code, as one of its leading tools to aid in the process. US patent examiners are required to study the claims and search among prior patents and other technical literature to find what is most closely related to the features of the proposed invention. Unless there is a "˜secure link' with a web site, patent examiners are currently prohibited from using the Internet when researching prior art. This process has seriously inhibited their ability to perform a full examination of software patents. The proposed initiative would involve the USPTO partnering with various private parties to develop a system enabling patent examiners and software developers to search for existing open-source software code. A searchable database would contain all available open-source code and be properly indexed for quick retrieval. The open-source code found on the database could then be used as a basis for rejecting patent applications. The results of this system, it is hoped, will be an improvement in the quality of granted patents, thereby leading to further progression of innovation. However, critics note that the majority of software patents contain no "code" as such, and this might limit the usefulness of a code database as a source of prior art for many cases. For a news item on this topic, see: http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1153299925909 Summary by: Oren Weichenberg