End Soft Patents is a great idea and has a sea of good information about our ridiculous patent system, especially as it pertains to software. Here's a good sample:
IBM
"Confidently, we [Sun Microsystems] proclaimed our conclusion: Only one of the seven IBM patents would be deemed valid by a court, and no rational court would find that Sun's technology infringed even that one.
"An awkward silence ensued. The blue suits did not even confer among themselves. They just sat there, stonelike. Finally, the chief suit responded. "OK," he said, "maybe you don't infringe these seven patents. But we have 10,000 U.S. patents. Do you really want us to go back to Armonk [IBM headquarters in New York] and find seven patents you do infringe? Or do you want to make this easy and just pay us $20 million?
"After a modest bit of negotiation, Sun cut IBM a check, and the blue suits went to the next company on their hit list."
--Forbes, June 24th 2002, "Patently Absurd"
