Nonprofits: A Patent-Free Zone?

Nonprofits: A Patent-Free Zone?: "Nonprofits: A Patent-Free Zone?
By Chris Nolan
February 17, 2005

Opinion: The Nonprofit Innovation Alliance hopes no-cost cross-licensing agreements among business process patent holders will cut out the lawyers. But there's one key holdout.
It isn't hard to dislike the business method patent. Unless, of course, you own one.
Fights between tech companies, between patent holders and suddenly successful startups, and between competitors or former partners are nothing new. And the protection of intellectual property is the bread and butter of any tech law practice. But business method patents take things to a new level. Perhaps the best-known example is Amazon's suit against rival BarnesandNoble.com over use of 'one-click' purchasing. That case, filed in 1999, was seen as both innovative (for patent holders), a disaster (for those who value the sharing of ideas) or just plain odd (for consumers and the general public). ADVERTISEMENT "