IBM, Microsoft, and the BSA Promote Software Patents in New Zealand Behind the Scenes | Techrights

Multinationals from the US, namely Intel, IBM [...], and of course Microsoft, have been lobbying for software patents in New Zealand. According to news from the site which is dedicated purely to fighting software patents, “[o]n May 7th and June 8th, 2010, Microsoft and IBM met privately with members of New Zealand’s Ministry of Economic Development (MED).

They claim to have convinced the Ministry to abandon plans to exclude software from patentability in the proposed Patents Bill. “There was also a private exchange of emails between the MED and Microsft, IBM, and the Business Software Alliance in the month before and after the meeting, where those three organisations submitted policy documents.”

Source Techrights

Patenting in India - Rising, But Not There Yet

Patenting in India - Rising, But Not There Yet

By ashish I did a study 4 years back, and one of the findings was that close to 80% of software patents were filed by MNCs - mostly driven by companies like TI, IBM , HP and Sun etc. Very few Indian companies were into serious IP business (Moser ...

More...

IBM Accused of pro-patent extremism

In an article dated December 2004, Russell McOrmond reported that when he recently did an Access to Information request of the Canadian Government to find out how Canada went from denying software patents to granting them, the expected extremists showed up, but the only major technology company that shows up in this "pro-software-patent extremism" is IBM.

Full article at Digital Copyright Canada.

IBM to profit by making patents available free?

I.B.M. is renowned for its rich storehouse of patented inventions. It once again led the research sweepstakes in America last year, collecting 3,248 patents, more than any other company. And it earned more than $1 billion last year from licensing and selling its ideas.

So why has I.B.M. shifted course recently, giving away some of the fruits of its research instead of charging others to use it? The answer is self-interest.

Diverging from conventional wisdom, the company has calculated that sharing technology can sometimes be more profitable than jealously guarding its property rights on patents, copyrights and trade secrets. The moves by I.B.M., the world's largest supplier of information technology services and computers, are being closely watched throughout the business world

More at HeraldTribune.com