[gwanstarr]

If you believe the patent system NEEDS reforming, please take a moment and sign the petition @ https://defendinnovation.org/


The patent system is in crisis, and it endangers the future of software development in the United States. Let's create a system that defends innovation, instead of hindering it.

1. A patent covering software should be shorter: no more than five years from the application date.

2. If the patent is invalid or there's no infringement, the trolls should have to pay the legal fees.

3. Patent applicants should be required to provide an example of running software code for each claim in the patent.

4. Infringers should avoid liability if they independently arrive at the patented invention.

5. Patents and licenses should be public right away. Patent owners should be required to keep their public records up-to-date.

6. The law should limit damages so that a patent owner can't collect millions if the patent represented only a tiny fraction of a defendant's product.

7. Congress should commission a study and hold hearings to examine whether software patents actually benefit our economy at all.


About Defend Innovation

"TO PROMOTE THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND USEFUL ARTS"
- U.S. Constitution, on the justification for patents
Civil liberties groups, academics, innovators, and Internet users team up to address the broken patent system.

Patents are supposed to foster innovation, but modern software patents have been turned against inventors. We need your help to defend innovation from a broken patent system. Here's what you can do:

Internet Users Sign on to EFF's seven proposals for fixing the patents system. Add your name and a comment. We'll take these signatures with us when we go to Washington, D.C., to tell legislators about our concerns with the patent system. The more names, the more powerful the document will be to lawmakers.

Companies EFF wants to hear from developers, engineers, and creators of all types. We're going to travel through Silicon Valley and beyond to talk with those who really feel the effects of today's flawed patent system: Internet companies. We want to have a conversation with you � find out how you are using patents, what you'd like to see in the patent system, where it is flawed and where it works. Some companies (like Twitter) are already hacking the patent system, and we want to hear what you think about that. We'll explain our proposals for repairing the system and hope to get your feedback. Click here to suggest a date for EFF to stop by for a meeting.

Individual Inventors, Lawyers and Academics You know patents � you've been following the patent process inside and out for years. We want your feedback about the major problems with the current system, EFF's seven proposals, and your experiences in the field.
We're going to take everything we learned from Defend Innovation and distill it into a whitepaper � In Defense of Innovation. We plan to take this document with us to D.C. and use it to educate lawmakers about what's really going on in the patent system � complete with a roadmap to fix it.