As long as it meets the non-obvious and no-prior-art tests, I don't see a proble... | Hacker News

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MartinCron on July 27, 2011 | parent | context | favorite | on: When Patents Attack

As long as it meets the non-obvious and no-prior-art tests, I don't see a problem with the concept.

Something like mouse gestures feel like a patentable innovation worthy of a temporary government-enforced monopoly.

Kliment on July 27, 2011 [–]

Sure, but not for a decade or more. The timescale of patents is simply incompatible with the timescale of software.

MartinCron on July 27, 2011 | [–]

I totally agree on that front. Five years seems like a reasonable upper limit to how long software patents should last.

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