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James Bessen

2011

Patents

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A Generation Of Software Patents, James Bessen Aug 2011

A Generation Of Software Patents, James Bessen

James Bessen

This study examines changes in the patenting behavior of the software industry since the 1990s. It finds that most software firms still do not patent, most software patents are obtained by a few large firms in the software industry or in other industries, and the risk of litigation from software patents continues to increase dramatically. Given these findings, it is hard to conclude that software patents have provided a net social benefit in the software industry.