Caution: Major Egghead subject matter...

Another great post by Brad Feld about Software Patent Absurdity.  He's long been a champion against software patents.  It's a subject that more Americans should be aware of, but even my eyes glaze over at some of the concepts.  However, I am sensitive to it because I even had someone waive a really weak patent claim at me because of the fact that I use mapping software to display Real Estate listings dynamically.  

What I'm doing seems like real common sense, huh?  Take mapping components, overlay listings, nice display, everyone wins - many companies out there doing just that, all independent of each other.  But there are people out there that troll around and try to extract "licensing fees" from companies like ListingWare just because we get close enough to an idea they put down on paper.  Ridiculous.  

Part of the film contained in Brad's post questions what would have happened in the 1700's if musical composers had been granted patents on musical concepts - how would Beethoven have dealt with someone having patented a particular rhythmic pattern or combination of instruments?  Hopefully the Supreme Court will figure out the best way to get out of this mess.