These days, it seems like we try to patent everything, even stuff that really should not be patentable, like software and genetic sequences. (Let’s face it, genetic sequences are not invented, they are discovered. Don’t even get me started on all the reasons we should not have software patents.) But no one seems to object to the patents that do more harm than perhaps any others, patents on interfaces.
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An interface is the way one system talks to another. Right now, patents on interfaces are used to create monopolies that really have no benefit for society. Patents are intended to reward innovation that contributes to society in some way, not just to make people rich.
How about some examples? Printer ink cartridges have patented interfaces in order to block competitors from making replacement cartridges. This allows the printer manufacturer to charge exhorbitent prices for printer ink and sell the actual printer hardware at a loss, turning it into a throw-away product that clutters our landfills. These consumer printers aren’t meant to be repaired. If something goes wrong they are thrown away. In a world that needs to rapidly reduce it’s carbon footprint, we need to rethink the idea of what should be disposable and what shouldn’t be.
How about music file formats? Apple uses patents on iTunes to exclude others from the music business, then they produce iPod players that are more expensive than competitors devices. The ipods also have batteries that can’t be replaced. When they go bad, you have to throw it away and buy a new one. Many people disposing of their ipods won’t even think about the fact that the batteries have cadmium, a dangerous pollutant. So rather than tossing the ipod into a battery recycling bin at the local Best Buy (Kudos for Best Buy on providing those.) they toss the iPod into the trash.
Microsoft, for year, blocked competitors from creating products that could compete with Word and the rest of the Office suite, by using proprietary file formats. Converting from Word to any other file format and back again has been problematic until very recently. What I find astonishing is that it has taken so long for companies and governments around the world to realize that depending on a single vendor for the software they need to conduct day to day business is incredibly foolish. I applaud Massecheusetts for paving the way towards rationality by adopting a file format which really is free and open, Open Document Format.
If we abolished all patents for interfaces, life would go on. Perhaps, instead of ripping people off for ink cartridges, the printer manufacturers might build printers that are robust and easy to repair. Instead of depending on proprietary document formats to force companies to upgrade to the latest version of their software, Microsoft might be forced to actually provide compelling new functionality.
There’s another benefit, too. If all interfaces were free to use, I suspect it would be easier to develop standards and get people to adopt them. This would reduce the cost to develop many products. We could spend less time reinventing the wheel, and more time working on that fusion power plant we need.
A world without interface and file format patents would also be one in which it would be far easier to build and maintain open source software. I’d be able to get open source drivers for my nVidia graphics card, or open source drivers for the broadcomm wireless chipset used in my laptop. That would make it a lot easier for me to use Linux full time.
We need to rethink things. It bears repeating. Over the next few decades, we’ll have to wean ourselves off of oil and other fossil fuels. We’ll have to start paying the full cost of products, including the cost of energy and the cost to clean up the environmental damage done while producing those products. We can’t continue to live like teenagers, tossing our dirty laundry on the floor and hoping Mother Nature will clean it up for us.
We can do better than we have done.
