Open source fans are excited by a judge’s ruling in major software-patent spat (Intellectual Ventures, a patent troll, vs. Symantec et al) that some are saying could spell the end of many, if not most, software patents. Wording like this has them psyched up:
Software is a form of language—in essence, a set of instructions…. It is inherently abstract because it is merely “an idea without physical embodiment,”… Given that an “idea” is not patentable… and a generic computer is “beside the point” in the eligibility analysis … all software implemented on a standard computer should be deemed categorically outside the bounds of section 101.
TechDirt (story here) says this is particularly notable because Federal Circuit Judge Haldane Mayer is often seen as being in favor of strong patents.
This story by Fortune is also good.
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