Collection of prior art

A crucial element in any patenting regime is the role of prior art. We propose to investigate the possibilities for

• Formalizing prior art, i.e., all relevant knowledge about software. This would include patents, (non-)academic publications, and any other relevant information.
• Formalizing the claims in patents, although it is unclear to what extent this is possible or even desirable. Although ambiguity in patent claims can be harmful, some amount of ambiguity should be tolerated. One role for judges is interpreting these ambiguities in light of technological developments that occurred after the claims were written, and other changed circumstances. It would be difficult if not impossible to retain such ambiguity if patent claims were formalized.
• Comparing formalized patent claims with formalized prior art.
• Automated searches for patent infringements in existing software, given formalized patent claims.

We believe that this research agenda can contribute to a revision of the patent system and may even lead to a form of software patents that behave as intended: disseminate the knowledge about inventions and give rewards to true inventors.