One of the reasons that I am skeptical of patent systems and IP in general is that the evidence suggests that those whose innovations are supposed to be encouraged by IP - namely smaller less profitable innovations that might not exist without the extra protection - cannot easily afford to use the system. Here is another cautionary tale about how difficult it is to protect yourself under existing law. Via David McGowan it is about building tools for model railroad computer control.

Your link seems non-functional.

The link works for me. Try the Coral cache version: link.

Summary: open-source project is harassed by a patent abuser with a history of patenting other people's inventions. The legal battle has been going on for 6 years.

Jesse:

I clicked your link (did not work) and then clicked back on David's link and it then did work.

David:

Points:

o Misuse of any law happens all the time. If Mr. Katzer was not abusing, in my opinion, one law, he would be abusing another.

o While Katzer may have started out with patent infringement, he essentially lost all those battles, and he is now pursuing copyright infringement. So, as I have done many times before, I point out that the system did what it was supposed to do, point out that bogus patent infringement suits (in my opinion) are exactly that, bogus. Did JMRI have to pay too much money to defend against this suit? Yes, as happens to anyone defending against any bogus patent suit. I hope JMRI wins the copyright infringement suit as well.