Most people think that masking the date in software, as windowing does, is not all that ingenious. In that case, a federal court expanded on the idea that software should be patented rather than copyrighted when it upheld a patent covering a business method of calculating financial information. Patents are believed to be the stronger legal protection, so the decision opened the door to patenting business methods. Kuester says he sees mixed results for IT if Dickens prevails. But another way that innovation occurs is by people using existing technology as a footstool to better technology.
Software is unique in that it involves borrowing from other systems and solutions.
Band says that even if the Dickens patent stands up, its impact may not be far-reaching. I don't think that will come out of the Dickens patent. I think it could ultimately have a limited impact in that it would affect people who did Y2K work, but it doesn't have implications for anything else. You Intellectual property law also deals with how technical knowledge affects IT workers' jobs. The case later was settled out of court.