The current U.S. patent system is something that just about everyone loves to hate, particularly if they have anything to do with software. Now, there is hope, as well as some trepidation, that significant reforms will take place. Hope, because there is a bill in Congress to take such action, and trepidation over whether Congress will get it right.

The current U.S. patent system is something that just about everyone loves to hate, particularly if they have anything to do with software. This was true even before the advent of open source software, but this new licensing paradigm has generated increasing animosity towards granting software patents at all.

True, there have been meaningful reforms in the U.S. patent system in recent years, including the elimination of rules that allowed cagey patent filers to amend and extend their filings almost forever, and a 30% increase in the number of patent examiners in this year alone, permitting faster and more thorough review of the validity of new filings. If anything, though, the calls for further reform have increased rather than abated.

Now, there is hope, as well as some trepidation, that further significant reforms will take place. Hope, because there is a bill in Congress to take such action, and trepidation over whether Congress will get it right. Of course, there is a major division (and myriad finer divisions) of opinion over what “right” would mean. For those of you that have not been following the progress of the legislation, there is a good overview of competing reform proposals in a CNET News article that was posted two days ago.

The current bill comes hard on the heels of the final defeat in the EU of a bill that would have allowed software to be patented in Europe, and leaves the U.S. more isolated in a world that increasingly relies on harmony in intellectual property. Open source proponents are pushing for the same result in the U.S., but success here would require a dramatic reversal of the law of the last twenty-odd years, rather than preservation of the status quo.

A proposal that may be more likely to succeed would change the U.S. from a “first to invent” to a “first to file” jurisdiction — like every other country in the world.

Whatever the outcome, short of the outright repeal of the patentability of software, it is unlikely that the finally enacted legislation will end the debate. In the meantime, we can all hold our breath, and hope for the best outcome.

I’ll be following this bill and reporting on it regularly.