Re: A Patent on Continuations?

["Peter J. Wasilko, Esq." <address@hidden>]

> They're not that dumb :). It's just that for their lawyer career
> future income software and business patents are a goldmine as opposed
> to copyright and trademark which bring no money to "intellectual
> property" lawyers. (I'm not being cynic here, just ask a lawyer
> friend in the IP field if you have one.)
> 
> Well being of programmers and promotion of science are not even on
> the radar.

In defense of the legal profession (of which I am a member when not in
programming language & end user computing research mode),  let me just
reiterate, that lawyers are taught that software patents are *desired*
by software developers as a way to reward them for the risks of
research.

In other words, the system is justified (and not cynically so) in the
minds of most lawyers by the *assumption* that patents are necessary for
the well being of programmers and the promotion of science.

--- Peter