It is nice to see this issue filtering its way through popular media, but the problem is that some of the nuances seem to be getting lost along the way.
Maybe it's just me, but I would have liked to see a bit more background on this issue than what was presented in this article. Even just a little discussion regarding the problems specfic to software patents. (I.e. the question of whether software is even patentable.)
I guess the problem with that is the more details get included, the further from the mainstream you get.
Really, I think that it would take something really shocking to get the real mainstream into this. Something like an injunction against some popular piece of hardware (or software). Then you wouldn't need to include all of the details. You could just rely on people having knee-jerk reactions against patents in general.