"The software industry would lose an important incentive to innovate if the government ceased issuing software patents," warned patent attorney James Carmichael, a former judge on the Patent Office board of appeals.
There was a cool talk on the problems with software patents by D. Ravicher: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0chez_Jf5A
I just can't imagine something like an Augmented Reality iPhone app being patented by a restrictive extortionate company. It's basically the Terminator vision on a modern handheld device. But then again, look at all the ridiculous applications http://www.google.com/patents?q=augmented+reality+phone+came...