FTC

As we wrote in last year's year-in-review, patents are a big focus at the intersection of open source and law. This year was no different--2011 saw Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Limited Partnership go before the Supreme Court. It was affirmed, 8-0 on June 9, rejecting Microsoft's request to change the burden of proof on patent invalidity from clear-and-convincing evidence to the preponderance standard.

One of the big patent stories of 2010 had good effects in 2011 as we saw first year of decisions applying Bilski to software. » Read more

After you cast your vote, tell us what you think about the FTC weighing in on patent reform or if software patents are too abstract to patent. Comments welcome.

Last month the Federal Trade Commission issued a report that acknowledged important problems in the U.S. Patent system as it affects software. The government doesn't do that every day, so that's good news. The FTC report also suggested some reforms that could mitigate some of those problems. » Read more

Recently Bob Sutton, author of Good Boss, Bad Boss, received a suspicious request via email: » Read more