BSA praises draft patent reform bill [was: Another Microsoft XMLpatent]

[Robin Cover <robin@oasis-open.org>]

A Fix for a Broken Patent System?
Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5737961.html

[q]
A long-awaited proposal in Congress to overhaul the
patent system finally surfaces, and large software
companies like it.  The U.S. patent system will
undergo its most substantial overhaul in decades if
a bill introduced on Wednesday becomes law. Rep. Lamar
Smith, who heads the House of Representatives committee
responsible for drafting patent law, said his proposal
would improve the overall quality of patents and target
some of the legal practices that have irked high-tech
companies. "The bill will eliminate legal gamesmanship
from the current system that rewards lawsuit abuses over
creativity," said Smith, a Texas Republican.

The Business Software Alliance was quick to praise the
bill, saying in a statement that it goes a long way
toward "improving patent quality, making sure U.S. law
is consistent with that of other major countries and
addressing disruptions caused by excessive litigation."
[/q]

Some people won't need to read much more than the above
to know what kind of "patent reform" is in draft.

-rcc