Don’t read the “EMC has Ph.Ds?” series!
Or at the very least avoid reading the patents I reference. I may have already said too much.

Microsoft’s FUD-slinging on Linux shines some light on patents
Good article with some great quotes on Cnet (disclosure: I’m a paid blogger for Cnet sub ZDnet and this is probably the last time I’ll mention it). So you don’t have to read the article here are my favorite quotes:

“The fear of willfulness is so great that often firms instruct their engineers not to look at patents.”
–Matthew Schruers, senior counsel
Computing and Communications Industry Association

You reduce your legal liability by not reading patents, because if you can show you invented it independently it increases the strength of the “obviousness” defense.

Linus speaks

“There are several reasons why engineers should not read other people’s patents, only their own. And it’s not a ‘hide your head in the sand’ issue, it’s a very practical issue of it being a waste of time,” Torvalds said.

. . . And engineers aren’t likely to comprehend patents in the first place: “Unless you have a patent attorney at your side, patent language usually makes no sense.”

I thought it was just me
I’m not out of the woods yet, though. Linus’ last quote in the article is

“The bulk of all patents are crap,” he said. “Spending time reading them is stupid. It’s up to the patent owner to do so, and to enforce them.”

The whole EMC series, a waste. Boo-hoo.

But my many fans in Hopkinton would be devastated if I stopped now, so the show will go on.

Comments welcome, as always. Although I think Linus said it all.