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786 NNAKWE, COOCH & HUANG-SAAD Technology and Innovation, Vol. 19, pp. 787-798, 2018 ISSN 1949-8241 • E-ISSN 1949-825X
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.21300/19.4.2018.787
Copyright © 2018 National Academy of Inventors. www.technologyandinnovation.org
Database. Alexandria (VA): NSF; c2018 [accessed minorities, and persons with disabilities in sci-
2018 Mar 1]. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/. ence and engineering. Alexandria (VA): NSF;
28. Smith KA, Guerra RCC, Mckenna AF, Swan C. 2017. https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/
Innovation Corps for Learning ( I-Corps L): nsf17310/.
assessing the potential for sustainable scalability 32. National Science Foundation. Broadening par-
of educational innovations. In: ASEE Annual ticipation at the National Science Foundation: ON THE SOFTWARE PATENTING CONTROVERSY
Conference and Exposition. Washington (DC): a framework for action. Alexandria (VA): NSF;
American Society for Engineering Education; 2008.
1
2016. 33. National Science Foundation. NSF promotes Neil G. Siegel and Marek A. Suchenek 2
29. Ehrlich M. The National Science Foundation’s inclusion in tech entrepreneurship through eight 1 Daniel Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Lean Startup push. Coller Venture Review. I-CorpsTM Sites [press release]. Alexandria 2 Department of Computer Science, California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA, USA
2016;4:66–76. (VA): NSF; 2017.
30. American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, 34. I-Corps Supplement Webinar July 27, 2016 This article discusses software patenting, beginning with a brief history and a description of
S. 3084, 114 Cong., 1 Sess. (2016). [video]. NSF. 2017 Apr 20, 37:50. [accessed the legal foundations for software patenting, and then considers major arguments pro and con
st
th
31. National Science Foundation National Center 2018 Mar 1]. https://www.youtube.com/ regarding software patenting. It advocates a thesis that the economic, political, and societal
for Science and Engineering Statistics. Women, watch?v=sfbsC6SMSSs. benefits of software patenting tend to outweigh its costs and negative effects, even while ac-
knowledging that the software patenting process is arguably imperfect.
Key words: Software patents; Business implications of software patents; History of software
patents; Legal environment for software patents

INTRODUCTION • Code is “instructions for a computer (as within
The question of software patentability has been a piece of software)”
hotly debated and a subject of considerable contro- • A mathematical formula is “a general fact,
versy over the last few decades. Over the years, the rule, or principle expressed in mathematical
courts have weighed in on that question with evolv- symbols”
ing, if not contradictory, interpretations of the noun That is, software is the entire set of code that
“process” (defined in Title 35 U.S. Constitution § 101, comprises the instructions for a computer for some
Inventions patentable) in the context of its patent- purpose. Code is a segment of such software: an indi-
ability, inventing new tests and criteria that, perhaps, vidual line or multiple such lines. And an algorithm is
clarified some relevant issues but left others more a description of the sequence of key steps to be used;
complicated and confused than they were before. this, however, can be very complicated. A mathemat-
Let us begin with with a few definitions (1): ical formula is a more abstract statement than an
• An algorithm is “a step-by-step procedure for algorithm; a formula can be considered a general fact
solving a problem or accomplishing some end” or statement, whereas an algorithm has the potential
• Software is “the entire set of programs, proce- to be far more situationally specific. Formulas and
dures, and related documentation associated algorithms need not be in a form that is understand-
with a mechanical or electronic system, and able to the computer, nor need they embody every
especially a computer system” step and condition to accomplish a goal; instead, they
_____________________
Accepted: March 1, 2018.
Address correspondence to Neil G. Siegel, Ph.D. (member, NAE and NAI), The IBM Professor of Engineering Management, Daniel Epstein Department of
Industrial and Systems Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, 3650 McClintock Avenue, OHE 310D, Los Angeles,
California 90089-1450, USA. Tel: 310-375-9907. E-mail: nsiegel@usc.edu or siegel.neil@gmail.com. Website: www.neilsiegel.usc.edu

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