CCIA’s Black on Squawkbox Tuesday A.M.

File Under: 2006, CCIA

Nov 27, 2006

Washington, D.C. – Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) President and CEO Ed Black is scheduled to appear o­n CNBC’s Squawkbox at 8:10 AM Tuesday Nov. 28. Black will address upcoming Supreme Court arguments in KSR International, a patent case that seems certain to affect innovators for years to come.

KSR is expected to further define which inventions are "obvious" and thus not patentable, and which can be protected by patents. KSR is especially important to the software industry, which has been beset by tens of thousands of junk patents issued by the US Patent Office in recent years. Software patents that cover old and obvious computing techniques have triggered steep increases in cease and desist letters as well as lawsuits from patent attorneys and their clients. Such patents have hindered innovation, not encouraged it.

Open source software, in particular, stands to lose if patent quality does not improve, since such software cannot be distributed if users must pay a royalty for each copy made.

Black will outline a number of recommendations CCIA has made to fix the patent problem.