this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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But we don't let people patent just mathematics.
So it's this weird thing where you can patent it as long as you make it an algorithm somewhere.
From a certain point of view, everything is mathematics. It still takes time and effort to figure out the mathematics to make new things work. Patents guarantee that the people who figure out the math will be able to profit off of it before a whole bunch of copycats steal the work. That should apply to software too - assuming that people actually figured out the math and didn't just patent some idea without an implementation.
Yeah, I think the hardest part is that distinction though.
Like in software you have patents for one-click shopping, minigames in video game loading screens, etc. - those aren't hard-researched algorithms, they're ideas.
Yeah, I agree on those examples. They should be able to patent their particular implementation - like maybe it took a lot of R&D to work out how to get server response times fast enough for one-click to work, or to get loading times fast enough to have a mini-game in the loading screen etc.
But they shouldn't be able to patent the entire concept. That's ridiculous.
You copyright implementations though, not patent them - that is what software copyright is.
Yeah, I guess it depends if the copyright is broad enough to offer protection while not becoming too broad and stopping innovation.