Most people I respect have little respect for software patents – they’ve either read one, have their name on some, or have paid attention to who is most served by their creation (IBM has more patents in it’s name for each of the last 14 years). In all my research for the book I found little hope that the patent office was due for reform, especially for software, and had little hope for change.

So I was stunned when I read that the U.S. Patent office is piloting a new process for patents.

The news so far is thin and I can’t find official comments yet (couldn’t find a thing on the USPTO site):

Washington Post
ZDNET
Interview w/Jon Dudas from USPTO

(Note: Dudas’ full job title is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office – his business cards must be 8×11).