April 2006

Counting the cost (again)

For those who missed the news last week, Microsoft and Autodesk both lost out in a patent dispute to the tune of US$133 million. The case involved the implementation of anti-piracy devices (software) in the products of Microsoft and Autodesk which were said to infringe the patents of a company called Z4 Technologies Inc.

If we add this to the other sizeable pay-outs in recent months, the ongoing economic cost to the software industry of software patents is self-evident. This time we have US$133 million less to possibily spend on R&D in creating new and innovative software products which benefit consumers and businesses, plus the wasted resource costs in having to defend the patent infringement action. Will there come a time when lawyers will have to turn their hand to software development? Since, the way the US is going (and Europe might follow if we are not careful), there might soon be more lawyers than developers in software companies :-).

Software patents remain a minefield for software developers (particularly to the new entrants to this battlefield), yet whilst we continue to allow some of these mines to be coated in diamonds, the minefield will only get bigger (and the cost of the eventual clear up even higher!)

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