Is it possible to patent open source software?

So, CSW and nChain are saying they’ve got patents for Bitcoin and the Lightning Network! I believe these patents are pretty much useless and can’t really be enforced... Check this out: you can’t just patent code. You can only patent an invention that’s in your code. An invention has to be something new and unique. If someone’s already done it, that’s called prior art, and it makes your patent invalid. So, if you try to patent something that someone else has already invented and coded, it’s just a lost cause... Let’s talk about this...

ref I think this answers the question... but there's a difference between patents and copyright. Patenting is protecting an idea and copyrighting is protecting the acutal body of code. If this agreement that they agreed to when they downloaded the software then they are still bound by it, particularly So depending on how much was copied then the license still applied (if thye took a part of the software, such as the hashing algorithm or signature algorithm) they'd have no conflicts with this software (potentially) but may be bound by the copyright of any software/references that are in that part of the code... Blockchains must have had a theoretical foundation a while ago and hashcash wasn't released with any patent, if this was patented then a filing may be put in place for infringement of anothers' intellectual property.

A patent is an award that is granted to those who think outside the box, so unless the amendment is substantial in the idea, it cannot be considered "out of the box." When it comes to open-source software, the patent here is a hybrid between traditional patents and open source licensing. Intellectual rights are reserved for those who think outside the box and are denied permission to amend them. All CSW is saying is for the media propaganda. You are indirectly contributing to the publicity of geek fame.

I think its a futile exercise to want to patent what you cannot control. People patent what they have proprietary right over, that the invention and control resides in them and without them, the invention can be said to be dead and nothing else. Going the route to wanting to patent bitcoin is a futile exercise because should it be successful, its going to be an indictment on the revolution we have come to believe as it means that the 'inventor' can wake up one morning and just decide to switch it off or maybe government can just acquire the company and everything that we have come to know becomes a myth.

So when it comes to intellectual property I'm kinda new on what is patentable and what is copyrightable since in it sense majority of the technology we have falls under patents and things like literature, song lyrics, artistic works, and even architectural design falls under copyright laws. One big example I have that confuses me is this. IBM Files Patent for a Blockchain-Based Web Browser This is just one of the many examples how companies try to patent blockchain technology, Patent and not copyright it. Just like what I provided what they are trying to claim a patent are both codes namely the blockchain technology as well as the web browser they are trying to develop yet they can still pursue a patent claim for it. This might not just be a normal understanding for us and with smart lawyers we have they might have a way around on pursuing that much more lucrative patent they are trying to get rather than just a copyright for the codes itself. So I'm leaning to say that codes and softwares can be both copyrighted and patented and there might even be a precedents about it.

I would not wonder if soon Craig Wright can be patenting the whole of the moon and claim it for himself. As to what value he can get claiming the patents for the whole of Bitcoin only he can answer. This is an open-source technology and anybody can access it anytime, anywhere. The only reason I guess is that he wanted to be famous and to be recognized the whole world as the real guy behind this cryptocurrency. And because he is a big failure with the main test many people are asking (moving the coins owned by Satoshi Nakamoto), he focused his attention into something he can easily do. Good thing that the whole Bitcoin community is not sympathetic to this pathetic man. About nChain, here some interesting articles about it I find to be useful and entertaining: https://hackernoon.com/nchain-in-the-brain-return-of-the-fake-satoshi-1415a8b07f04\ https://www.coindesk.com/craig-wrights-nchain-is-hiring-a-lawyer-to-prosecute-its-crypto-patents https://news.bitcoin.com/nchain-claimed-to-be-largest-acquisition-in-bitcoin-history/ Happy reading, everyone

Indeed. A somewhat rhetorical question ... Herewith, an interesting discussion from: Re: SCAM: Bitcoin SV (BSV) - fake team member and plagiarized white paper - thread topic ... ... ...

Satoshi in an email to Gavin. https://news.bitcoin.com/satoshis-final-messages-leave-tantalizing-clues-to-his-disappearance/ Bitcoin has a MIT open source license.