DigiMaj: The Bilski test was invented by IBM - "By reading the Amicus Brief of IBM to the CAFC, it is pretty clear that the machine tranformation test which allows software patents and ban business method patents was invented by IBM lawyers."

NZOss: Submission on Software Patents - "We wish to protect the democratic right of all people to express themselves freely. For software developers writing software is a form of creative expression. In the Open Source domain it is also a public service, providing value to the entire community. In order to better understand the impact of software patents on software developers let us consider the possibility of a similar situation that book authors would have if writing styles or plots could be patented."

Neowin: Microsoft patents: Linux to become VFAT-free? - "The Linux Foundation continues to maintain that Microsoft's VFAT patents are not valid. And of course the United States is one of only a small handful of countries that even recognise software patents. However, according to CNet, the Linux community has recently been taking steps to work around the entire VFAT patent issue. But what is the nature of the VFAT patents, and how can Linux bypass them?"

SSP: The Bilski test was invented by IBM - "By reading the Amicus Brief of IBM to the CAFC, it is pretty clear that the machine tranformation test which allows software patents and ban business method patents was invented by IBM lawyers."

IPWatchDog: Software is the New Engine and Must be Patentable - "I have long since lost hope that those who are truly anti-patent and anti-software zealots will ever come to accept that software should be patentable. For reasons that are beyond me they will not even admit that software can be patented. Talking to such a lunatic fringe is hardly worth the time it takes, or the adjida it causes, and seems to approximate a real life Monty Python sketch where the people who claim to have the far superior intellect have such narrow minds that even in the face of overwhelming proof they cling to the irrational and simply incorrect view that software is in fact math and everyone knows math isn’t patentable. Yes, the lunacy is high, very high indeed. So high that the only reason worth continuing to write articles like this is to hopefully prevent the overall anti-patent and anti-invention hysteria that seems to be gaining steam. But the real goal is to try and make sure that any policy makers, decision makers and even those who wear black robes and work at"

H-online: Ubuntu to continue using Mono - "According to Remnant, the Ubuntu Project takes patent issues seriously and, should a rights holder claim a patent infringement, the board would commit to a review of the claim. Currently, the board as received no claims of infringement against the Mono stack and is unaware of any claims being received by any other similar project. As patents are generally registered to protect against litigation, rather than as an intent to litigate, the board feel that as there is currently no claim of infringement, the patent itself is not a "sufficient reason to warrant exclusion from the Ubuntu Project"."

ITWorld: Sweden aims high for creation of a single EU patent system - "However, opponents of a unified patent system say just the opposite. "With the financial crisis and climate change as looming priorities, the Swedish presidency is going to be hard-pressed to move forward an agenda that has been mired in deep political fights for the last thirty years," said Benjamin Henrion, president of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII). The FFII argues that a Community Patent will make it easier to pass software patents in Europe, and it says a single patent litigation area is merely a way to circumvent the legal authority of the European Court of Justice, which it trusts could safeguard the E.U. from software patents. "While large US software firms keep up their hopes for cheap enforceable software patents in Europe, the facts on the ground suggest that this debate will crawl, not run," Henrion said."

ArsTechnica: New Linux patch could circumvent Microsoft's FAT patents - "A Linux developer has published a new kernel patch that provides a workaround to avoid Microsoft's patents on the FAT filesystem. The patch, which has undergone extensive legal review by patent lawyers, could make it possible to use FAT on Linux without having to pay licensing fees to Microsoft."

PLI: Patentable Subject Matter: Data Transformation Claim Strategies after Bilski (Audio-only) - "As the Federal Circuit and Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences continue to decide cases on patentable subject matter by applying the Bilski test, practitioners find it more difficult to draft reliable method claims to software and business procedures. Still to be explored by the court are the limits of the exception they drew in the Bilski decision for methods that transform data directly representative of physical objects or substances. The example discussed by the court in Bilski is the transformation of x-ray attenuation data, produced by a computed tomography scanner, into a particular visual depiction of a physical object."

Techdirt: Interview With A Patent Troll... Which Skips The Key Questions - "But worst of all, the article presents Spangenberg as always being right and always having big companies settle (or that he wins his cases). You would think that any profile on Spangenberg would include little facts like that he was caught shuffling patents around in order to sue companies multiple times over the same patent -- despite a settlement promising not to. Doing so eventually cost Spangenberg $4 million. Robin Hood? Or how about his attempts to stretch what highly questionable patents cover? For example, patent 5,493,490, which covers a system for making electronic proposals to buy cars (which, yes, you would think seems obvious enough, but what do you know?), which Spangenberg is asserting against dozens of companies who don't sell cars, but do sell other stuff online."