Groklaw - 2 Major Patent Rulings from the US Supreme Court - [My del.icio.us]

Finally, finally, FINALLY some sanity from on high about our screwed up patent system. This is the money quote from one of the decisions:

And as progress beginning from higher levels of achievement is expected in the normal course, the results of ordinary innovation are not the subject of exclusive rights under the patent laws. Were it otherwise patents might stifle, rather than promote, the progress of useful arts.

Damn. Isn't it refreshing to see the protection of "useful arts" come up in discussions about so-called "intellectual property," since, you know, the phrase appears in the U.S. Constitution and all.

Anyway, good rulings, but more progress still needs to be made. Software patents must be abolished once and for all. Like the Churchill said, it's not the beginning of the end, it's the end of the beginning.