Has there ever been an instance where an inventor with limited resources used a software patent to protect significant innovation?
Has anyone, anywhere, ever once faced a coding challenge, searched through software patents, and found a useful solution?
I'm laughing as I try to imagine either of these things happening.
A friend of mine recently earned good money serving as an expert witness against a patent claiming to cover the concept of transmitting a zero over a carrier wave. You see, the patent holder never actually produced a device taking advantage of this great idea, and then he "hurt his back and couldn't work anymore", so he sued his insurance company for the billions of potential dollars he could have earned if he ever did get around to transmitting a zero...
Has anyone, anywhere, ever once faced a coding challenge, searched through software patents, and found a useful solution?
I'm laughing as I try to imagine either of these things happening.
A friend of mine recently earned good money serving as an expert witness against a patent claiming to cover the concept of transmitting a zero over a carrier wave. You see, the patent holder never actually produced a device taking advantage of this great idea, and then he "hurt his back and couldn't work anymore", so he sued his insurance company for the billions of potential dollars he could have earned if he ever did get around to transmitting a zero...