Apparently it seems at least one expert might be willing to argue that a
basic "hello world" test is subject to patentability.
Oh sure, no one has
come right out and said that. But with the opinion some patent Lawyers are
expressing, it's not outside the realm of reasonable expectation they would make
such a claim.
Caveat: reasonable expectation in this context = what I
expect them to do, not what I expect a reasonable person to
do.
However... here we are talking about producing code that likely
infringes a patent and patent Lawyers have uttered warnings already that the
customers - those people who simply use the computing device - are also liable
for infringement.
In that context, it's likely anyone who simply powers
on a computing device is likely infringing some software patent of some type or
another.
And it still seems to me that the primary reason for the
argument that Google "didn't do it's due diligence by researching patents" is to
be able to argue for trebble damages. Which means... all those poor end users
risk trebble damages under that potential theory.
How's that for a clear
indication of a patent system gone Wild West!
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