IBM Adopts Open Patent Policy

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Andy Updegrove writes “The New York Times reports this morning that IBM will announce a new patent policy later today under which 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.”

Link: Consortiuminfo.org

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