So via this article at the ABA, Crisis Pending, apparently there has been quite a flurry in the past few years in patenting tax strategies — legal advice — and more are on their way in the United States. Business method patents aren’t allowable in the UK. I have to disagree with this comment by Pamela B. Krupka, chair-elect of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law:

“Twenty-five years or so ago, when patents were first issued on living matter that was used to eat oil slicks, there was concern about whether living organisms should be patented,” Krupka says.

“When software patents first issued, there was concern about whether software should be patentable. The same thing happened for business method patents,” Krupka adds.

“Every time there’s a technological development, people say, ‘Not in my backyard.’ That’s very un­derstandable. It takes a while for folks to get their heads around what the patent system does and why it should be applied uniformly across all fields of technological endeavor.”

One (of the many) things I’ve learned living and working in Europe, patents on life and software patents are far from a given. Many people are opposed, and question whether the American approach is preferable or not. They take a different position on both of these issues over here, and I think that there definitely could be some more comparative work in the area between the US and countries that have taken different approaches.

I don’t have a whole lot more to say at the moment, but in a profession that prevents lawyers from signing non-compete agreements because of “the client’s right to choose a lawyer”, this might be the wedge for some serious changes in how we think of lawyers and how lawyers practice law.

This entry was posted Thursday, May 31st, 2007 at 9:20 pm and is filed under General IP. Both comments and pings are currently closed.