OK, so what does this all have to do with Linux? Well, if you read between the lines you might just be able to spot it….

Recognizing some of the criticism facing the patent system, it looks like the US’s largest patenter for thirteen years running, IBM, and the USPTO are trying to work together on a system that improves software patents, without having to reform the entire patent system through laws. The NY Times has more details — but it’s tough to tell from these two articles how helpful this will really be. There are three parts to the plan, and the first two are nice to have, but merely deal with some of the symptoms, not the root causes of bad software patents. The first is that people can sign up for email or RSS alerts on certain types of patents, so they can find out about them quickly. [Read the rest]