[Grut]

Hmmm? Patents stifle innovation?

Yup. Lots of paperwork with lots of lawyering and lots of fees makes lots of innovators say "the Hell with it!"

Especially when they consider that the only thing a patent will really do is license them to try to outspend 'Microsoft' on lawyers.

[DonaldC]

Always seemed to me that for software, a copyright would be the preferred tool, but this is an area I don’t know much about.

[null and void]

It's only about $5,000 for an individual to get a patent, about $10,000 for a corporation.

Especially when they consider that the only thing a patent will really do is license them to try to outspend 'Microsoft' on lawyers.

And no lawyer would ever take a case against MicroSquish based on a portion of the potential settlement...