Novell, Patent Lawyers, and Gartner Group a Major Part of the Software Patents Problem

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2010-08-13 10:33:26 UTC
Modified: 2010-08-13 10:33:26 UTC

Summary: Novell continues to feed the longtime software patents proponents from Gartner; lawyers promote software patents regardless of their impact on the market

Novell has just attended LinuxCon where it had a lot of influence, as usual (snatching seats in panels). Being a proprietary software company which brags about its software patents it's not surprising to see its PR people citing Gartner/Burton, which are software patents proponents.

For those who do not remember, Gartner bought Burton and it has expressed support for software patents on numerous occasions [1, 2, 3, 4]. It usually comes from Brian Prentice but not always. He represents and makes up Gartner's views. He is no mere peon there. "Brian Prentice is a research vice president with Gartner's Emerging Trends and Technologies Group," says his own profile (the 'open' core crowd loves feeding him and inviting him too). Here he is once again promoting software patents in his blog; Simon Phipps responded as follows:

I don’t agree with Brian for a moment that we should accept the imposition of software patents in this sort of quid pro quo, but his warning to heed the risks of trade secrets and non-competes should be heeded.

Clients of Prentice include many companies with software patents. To him, this position is also a matter of paying the bills. We explained this before. Similarly, patent lawyers benefit from software patents and in response to a new post from Neil Wilkof, selfishness as seen in the comments:

I'm a patent attorney. I do a lot of work in software and consider it something of a speciality. I've acquired that speciality in response to demand. [...] I'm not saying software patents are a good thing. I'm not saying they are a bad thing. I'm saying they are. Fact. And there are plenty of companies, from start-ups through to mega corporations, who want them.

They don't want to think about the consequences. They don't care. They are self-serving agitators. Over at LWN it is pointed out that "Attorney Gene Quinn [...] calls those who oppose software patents "ideological buffoons".

Well, that's not so polite. Then again, Patent WatchTroll has always been rude and arrogant; maybe that's why he got sued. ⬆

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