The 20 year eternity
One of the current problems that the United States Patent Office seems to have a hard time understanding is that the uniform 20 year monopoly granted patent holders does not reflect the market realities that the patent covers, nor the speed at which innovation occurs in that market.
For example, a patent on the software algorithm known as LZW resulted in the near universal vilification of its patent holder when it was implemented in the GIF image format. At one point, Unisys attempted to charge a license fee for every use of the format, despite the fact that the format itself was quickly superseded by the more advanced (and free) format PNG. The only reason that Unisys could attempt to charge for it in the first place was because GIF had established itself so widely in the market at that time. However, the whole controversy soon become little more than a footnote because technology quickly outpaced the outdated GIF, and Unisys itself was left behind.
This illustrates a striking point: software patents, when granted, are far too long to fulfill either their goal of encouraging innovation or protecting true intellectual property. The computing industry moves at such a speed that patents instead form a dual hindrance on that innovation.
In computing terms, it is popularly understood that a brand new machine today is obsolete in two years. In the same manner, a monopoly granted for 20 years is really an eternity in the technology field because the speed of innovation is far greater. Computing is one of the few markets that builds the engine of its own growth: computing gets faster because these computers increase productivity, and this increased productivity results in a still faster generation of machines in less time than the previous.
This self-feeding cycle is what makes software patents a hindrance, and demonstrates the significant need for patent reform. If patent laws were tuned to their market’s field, software patents should probably last no more than five years, as this seems to be the generational window that the industry follows. The fact that they don’t is what induces the most friction in the first place.