Does it seem odd to you that a software algorithm can be patented?

Oracle sued Google (and lost) about APIs and whether they were copyrightable and patentable. Oracle lost.

I can’t see how mathematical formulae can be patented. Something tangible like a radio, yes. Something purely abstract, like math, no.

Most commercial software is patended or copyright. It protects the creator from having others profit from their work.

I am one of the inventors on a patent held by my employer for a trade allocation methodology/algorithm. We filed a patent to protect us from being sued for patent infringment of alterntaive methods similar to ours.

I don’t think companies should be able to patent genetics either but they do.

I’m a fan of the Open Source idea!!!

A particular shade of red is trademarked, or patented, in the USA.

Also the happy birthday song was for a time, as well as the introduction to a boxing match.

^^^ “Happy Birthday” was copyrighted..

The US Patent and Trademark Office allowed The Ohio State University to trademark :The” for use on branded products like t-shirts.

They patented the BRCA genes for breast cancer so only the company that had the patent could do that testing and was able to charge a lot of money. Moreover, it essentially gives patent holders a monopoly over all of the information contained within the genes. Gene patent holders have the right to prevent anyone from studying, testing or even examining a gene. As a result, scientific research and genetic testing have been delayed, limited, or even shut down due to concerns about gene patents, and patients’ options regarding their medical care have been restricted.

If they will do it for healthcare that can save lives I’m not surprised at all they do it for a software algorithms.

I don’t understand how you can patent a naturally occurring gene. If you alter a gene then maybe a patent makes sense.

Yes. As a software engineer, I think that software algorithm patents are B U L L S H I T.

Algorithms are ideas, and many of the ones that will occur to one person, will naturally occur to others. I think it’s even more evil, wrong-minded, and counter-productive to allow algorithm patents, than it is to allow other types of patents.