Patentanwalt Axel H. Horns' Blog on Intellectual Property Law

s/I've been living off IPRs (Intellectual Property Rights)/I've been living off copyright/

# posted by zoobab : 30 August, 2005 23:19

Florian Müller has previously expressed concern that the fight against software patents gets hijacked by anti-IP zealots.
I think his statement is just an attempt to clarify that his grieveance is only with software patents. He is not against IP in general.
He may have been commenting on Linus' right to protect the Linux(tm) trademark.

# posted by Jan H. Hansen : 31 August, 2005 10:29

IP is a term that regroups several kind of laws (copyright, patents, trademarks, ...), and it has been very easy for the pro-software patent lobby to put the anti-swpat guys in one box called "anti-IP".

# posted by zoobab : 31 August, 2005 12:13

Florian Müller is right. IP is not the problem. It is the misuse of IP that is the problem.

Physical inventions have a technical character that lends itself to patent protection. Software is merely a technique and therein lies the difference.

It is making techniques patentable that opens the whole can of worms.

# posted by Brian : 31 August, 2005 13:40

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by Brian : 31 August, 2005 13:40

It's funny because the meaning is obvious to anyone but you.

Mr Muller is just pointing out that as the bulk of opponents to software patents, he has been making a living off copyrights on software. Hence he fully understand the importance of copyrights and he is not some rabid anti-I.P. contrary to the strawman argument many software patents proponents are making.

If that was not obvsious to you, it's because you believed this strawman argument.

# posted by Bernard Hugueney : 31 August, 2005 14:22

BLOG@IP::JUR

Patent Attorney Axel H Horns' Blog on Intellectual Property Law.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Mr. Florian Müller on Intellectual Property.