Patent advocates, large successful businesses, and politicians are so enthusiastic about the patenting of software that it’s hard to accept arguments from people like the FFII and Free Software Foundation who claim that the software industry simply does not need software patents and would be far better off without them.

"The FFII congratulates Eric S. Maskin, an economist who has long criticised the patenting of software, for receiving the 2007 Nobel Prize for Economics. Prof. Maskin and two colleagues receive the Prize for research into the optimal design of economic mechanisms.

An appeals court on Friday rejected Microsoft Corp.'s challenge to a $142 million trial loss over patents on a way to prevent software piracy. "Substantial evidence supports the jury's verdict" that Microsoft infringed two valid patents owned by closely held z4 Technologies Inc., the appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled.

If you're getting sued for patent infringement, you have a right to know who is really behind the lawsuit, and so does the public. So I started digging up publicly available information. What I found amazed me - so many patent plaintiffs, especially in the Eastern District of Texas, make no products, and just try to extract money out of their IP.

One of the enduring soap operas this year has involved the ongoing patent infringement threats by Microsoft against “Linux, OpenOffice, email, and other open source software.” According to Microsoft, 235 of its (unnamed) patents are being infringed, and it should be entitled to be paid for this use of its intellectual property.

Patent attorney, Milord A. Keshishian, offers an analysis of Glaxo's preliminary injunction victory

What could make the Free Software Foundation (FSF), proprietary software companies, and at least one venture capitalist into allies?

The End Software Patents (ESP) coalition, a new organization poised to swing into action next month under the leadership of Ben Klemens.