Current Event - 10/8/2015

Today's class discussion was about intellectual property as it relates to software. Pretty much anyone who delves into software development is going to be associated with a patent at one time or another, even if it's only that their work is part of a larger product that will be patented by the corporation they work for. In light of that, I looked around for one of the latest articles regarding the patent wars that have been raging between the technology giants recently. I was pleased to find this article about the pending resolution of the patent feud between Microsoft and Google. It appears that the two have decided to stop suing each other and instead start licensing their patents to the other. 

I say that I'm pleased to find this article because I think litigation over who gets control over what technology is important, but I think the degree to which it has been pursued in recent years is just silly. If they quit fighting and just license the patents from the owner instead, everyone gets a piece of the pie and everyone is (relatively) happy. Not that I don't understand that each company would prefer to own the patents they use and not have to license them, but I think their time and money are much better spent innovating and producing new patents rather than fighting over the old ones. However, I also realize that this is unlikely to cease to be an issue because there's a lot of money in owning all the patents. Let's just hope that it stays relatively low key, shall we?