Software patents have a very recent history as the first software patent granted was in 1981, in the legal case of Diamond v. Diehr. The claimed invention is a heat treatment of rubber, wherein software code is employed to compute the optimum time duration for the treatment. In another case of State Street Bank & Trust v. Signature Financial Group, a software business method was granted a patent in the year 1998, redefining software patentability. Software patentability has been a topic of debate world over. The first question an inventor, who wishes to patent his invention, asks is “Is software patentable”. The short answer is that the US patent office does grant software patents, and there has been a surge in software patenting in the US.

A classification of software patents is virtually nonexistent, although a majority of recent patents are software patents based on the above criteria and about 1400 patents are purely on computational software. Major companies like IBM, AT&T, Siemens, HP and Microsoft boast of an extensive software patent portfolio. IBM possesses 31,995 US patents, HP possesses 21,000 patents worldwide as on 2003, Microsoft possesses 5000 US patents and Siemens possesses more than 10,000 issued and pending US patents. Microsoft and Siemens have a cross-licensing agreement to enable increased access to each others patent portfolios. In the USPTO database there are about 25123 claimed software patents and about 284978 granted patents that disclose the use of software in their inventions.

Software patents will surge a rise in software innovation and also enhance the quality of an attorney software protection. Cross-licensing agreements support even higher level of innovation and interaction in the software industry. Software patents not only protect marketing rights for a company but also their intellectual property, thereby providing a driving and inspiring force for the programmers.

Don’t even get started anyone on the advantages of software products in day to day life. Attorney software products range from operating systems, encryption software, web development, virtual reality, gaming software to customized software solutions for other sectors like medical, banking, aviation, military, etc; software has been the savior for many industries. Without software, humans may not have envisioned such advancement in technology and consequently the quality of life.

tish asked:


often, we hear about attorneys and SWs being “shared” by both paps and pfmoms/pfparents during the adoption process. even with the best intentions (having the paps leave the room while the attorney meets with pfmoms/pfparents, et al) , it seems odd that two sides would be equally represented by the same entity. especially when in no other legal proceeding is this the norm (e.g. divorce, child custody, civil, criminal, et al). i just wonder if people believe that pfmoms/ pfparents are “truly” being represented when the attorneys and SWs are usually hired by paps, work for the adoption agency; or are “adoption attorneys.”

thoughts?

code:
paps= potential adoptive parents
pfparents= potential first parents
pfmoms=potential first moms
SW=social worker
r…i think the difference between a non-contested divorce and an adoption is that both parties are totally on board there are no children involved, and very little property and assets. with adoption, there are just too many variables to share legal representation, IMO.
*that first edit was so poorly worded, i was inclinded to repost it…i will not try to answer a call and type at the same time **

r…i think the difference between a non-contested divorce and an adoption is that with a non-contested divorce, both parties are totally on board, there are usually no children involved, and there is very little property and assets to be divided. with adoption, there are just too many variables to share legal representation, IMO.

? Yun ? asked:

I just bought this statue. It is made of ceramic/porcelain.

Themis is the Greek goddess of justice. In this depiction, she is holding the scales to show equal distribution of justice without corruption. Her sword represents power, and she is blindfolded to show execution of justice without favor.

I bought it because I thought it would remind me about my path; I am planning on entering law enforcement in American government.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa227/zanthro11/Themis.jpg