IBM Ups the IPR Ante; Adopts Open Patent Policy
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The New York Times reports that IBM will announce a new patent policy later today under which it will significantly change the way it deals with its patent portfolio. According to the Times, IBM hopes to move the industry in the same direction by its example.
[Go IBM! This editor certainly encourages other businesses to consider what they can do to join IBM in working toward patent reform here in the US. - dcparris]
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Under the new policy, IBM says it will publish not only all of its issued patents on line (thereby disclosing ownership of every patent it controls), but all of its patent applications as well (including those that are not otherwise required to be made public). It will also call for an end to the issuance of "business methods" software patents - the type of patent that entitles an inventor to claim ownership of broad ideas, and not just specific inventions. IBM says that it is urging the industry to follow its lead, rather than wait for the US Congress to pass needed reforms to increase the quality of software patents. It will be interesting to see what reactions this latest unilateral action elicits among IBM's peers and competitors. Already, commentators have begun greeting each new pledge by a major technology company not to use its patents oppressively as a challenge to the rest of the industry to not only match, but beat, the latest move in support of open standards and, in particular, open source software development and licensing. How far can this process go? Lately, the raises in this intellectual property poker game seem to be growing larger rather than more modest, indicating that the pile of patent chips on the table has plenty of room to grow. Full Story |
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