FSF backed End Software Patents (ESP) Project Formed to Eliminate Software Patents

[Peter Brown]

ESP Estimates U.S. Companies Spend $11.4 Billion Annually on Software
Patent Litigation  http://endsoftpatents.org/

Boston, Mass., February 28, 2008 - End Software Patents, a project
working toward the elimination of software patents, was launched today.
The ESP project will initially focus on two approaches: 1) assisting
corporations that choose to challenge software patents in the courts and
at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on the basis that
patents for software and designs with no physically innovative step have
no legal validity, and 2) public education aimed at passing laws to
protect software from patent law.


The End Software Patents project believes the current problems with the
U.S. patent system are caused by the elimination of restrictions on what
is patentable, rather than the details of processing and examination.
For example, virtually every patent troll today is holding patents in
software and business methods; there are no pharmaceutical patent
trolls.

"Software patents endanger both software developers and businesses,
ironically stifling the very innovation that the U.S. patent system was
intended to foster," said Ben Klemens, executive director of End
Software Patents. "With statements from the Supreme Court and the USPTO
supporting our position, we can use our court system to restore our
patent system to its original state without delay."

In a separate announcement today, ESP released its first report on the
current state of software and business method patents. The report covers
the economic impact of software patents, including the $11.4 billion
that U.S. businesses waste each year on software patent litigation. It
also covers the expansion of software patent infringement suits to
threaten general business, and recent judiciary statements and rulings
that question the patentability of software - including relevant U.S.
Supreme Court statements and the February 2008 Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit (CAFC) announcement that they will reexamine the scope
of what is patentable. These statements and rulings provide new
arguments and authority to those who face lawsuits based on software or
business method patents.

"Software patents are a burden on U.S. businesses and innovation, and
the debate on the patentability of software will have a profound impact
on the software industry over the next 20 years," said Brad Feld,
Managing Director at Foundry Group. Feld added, "I am pleased to see
that the End Software Patents project has formed to directly address the
problem. These are smart people who know a lot about patents, and I have
every expectation that they will help achieve change."

End Software Patents' focus
ESP will serve as a non-profit advocacy group for the elimination of
software patents, especially in the U.S. It will also provide resources
and advice to U.S. businesses defending cases of software patent
infringement. By educating computer users and software developers about
the harm and unfairness of software patents, and by educating businesses
and lawyers about the economic and judicial arguments supporting the
case that software is not patentable, ESP aims to remove software once
again from the effect of patent law.

"There is one law for all patents, and it is being weakened to mitigate
the mess with business methods and software, which means that designers
of drugs, machines, and bona fide electronics are having the rug pulled
from under them," stated Klemens. He added, "Rather than neuter the
entire patent system, we are proposing to return the scope of what is
patentable to what it was before we started seeing all the headlines
about how the patent system is broken."

Management
End Software Patents' executive director is Ben Klemens, who has written
extensively on patent reform and other tech law issues. Klemens is
currently a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution, and is the
author of Math You Can't Use: Patents, Copyright, and Software. Klemens
holds an MS and a PhD in Social Science from the California Institute of
Technology and a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago. ESP is
working in conjunction with a network of lawyers, business executives
and academics.

About End Software Patents
End Software Patents is a project formed to eliminate patents for
software and other designs with no physically innovative step. It
promotes a U.S. technology development environment which will drive
innovation and growth in the global marketplace. End Software Patents
has initial backing from the Free Software Foundation, the Public Patent
Foundation, and the Software Freedom Law Center. For more information on
participating in the project, or to access its knowledge base, please
visit its website at http://endsoftpatents.org.