Editing Software patent debate (section)

===Long patent pendencies===
* In the software industry, [[product lifecycle]]s churn rapidly; a product can run through its entire lifecycle and become outdated during the time it takes a patent filed on the invention underlying it to issue.<ref>{{cite book|title=To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy A Report by the Federal Trade Commission|date=October 2003|publisher=Federal Trade Commission|url=https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/promote-innovation-proper-balance-competition-and-patent-law-and-policy/innovationrpt.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|Chapter 3, p 45}}
*According to the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]]’s official statistics for 2015, the average [[pendency for patent applications]] categorized under “Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security”  was approximately two and a half years, exceeding the pendencies of all other patent categories.<ref name="www.uspto.gov">{{cite web |title=United States Patent and Trademark Office |url=https://www.uspto.gov/ |website=[[United States Patent and Trademark Office|USPTO]] |access-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630183539/https://www.uspto.gov/ |archive-date=Jun 30, 2023 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
*The average total pendency of European technology patents in 2015 was approximately two and a half years. Technology patents in China, Korea, Japan, and Europe had first action pendencies of approximately one year compared to those in the United States, with first action pendencies of under two years. Europe and the United States have the longest total pendencies of around 26 months, while China, Korea, and Japan have shorter total pendencies from 15 to 21 months.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fiveipoffices.org/statistics/statisticsreports/2015edition/IP5SR2015full.pdf |title=IP5 Statistics Report 2015 |publisher=IP5}}</ref>