Don’t Feed the Patent Troll: Reforming the United States Software Patent System

Abstract

The United States Software Patent System currently suffers from a number of issues including the proliferation of patent trolls and the rise of patent thickets. Several solutions have been proposed, ranging from completely abolishing software patents to reducing the duration of software patents. This paper surveys and analyzes eight potential reforms, distributed in the categories of Judicial Reform, Legislative Reform, Patent and Trademark Office Reform, and Industry Self-Regulation based on criteria of effectiveness and feasibility. It is recommended that the reforms of Increasing Patent Maintenance Fees, and Prohibiting Functional Claiming be implemented simultaneously to meet the proposed criteria. The Defensive Patent License appears to be a very interesting solution, but it remains to be seen how effective it would be in practice.