Matthias Urlichs
Co-Owner and Consultant
of noris network AG

Software patents severely restrict our ability to provide our customers with innovative solutions at competitive prices. We are unable to execute a patent search for every consulting contract:

- Our prices would no longer be competitive.

- Patent searches take too long.

- Software patents frequently cannot be found using common search terms. They're usually found because the patent holder or a third person notices a similarity between the patent and a solution.

- It's impossible to insure against this risk.

We would have to do exactly that, however, to protect our customers against a costly patent claim by a third party. If that claim concerns a deployment of a high-volume application (real-life example: credit transaction processing), a single such patent claim would kill our company.