Patent Litigation
/I've heard complaining about the patent system, particularly related to software patents, for some time, but I only recently started coming across some material that starts discussing the issues at hand. I'm far from fully appreciating the issue, but it certainly does seem like something is wrong when the only companies that can function in the current system are ones that have sufficient capital to build large patent portfolios or pay licensing fees to others that do.
Two podcasts I listen to recently dedicated episodes on this topic and I think they provide a pretty decent introduction to the material. The first is an episode of Build and Analyze where Marco Arment (of iOS Instapaper fame) discusses software patents. The second is an episode of This American Life covers more ground and provides more context of patent litigation as a whole.
