Software patents under attack
IBM and Sun's release of 500 and 1600 patents respectively for certain defined uses has focused the issue of whether software patents should even exist. Some argue that software creators would still innovate at the same rate even without patent protection. The encouragement of innovation, after all, is what patents are all about. Thus it may be that software patents actually stifle innovation. They certainly strike fear in many businesses creating software, due to the impracticality and cost of ever finding out what patents are out there that might affect their products.
In a Techworld article, Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, speaks out against software patents.
As well, Groklaw reports that the European effort to start granting software patents has been at least temporarily derailed.