Before abolishing software patents we should try to limit their scope.

One problem is in defining what constitutes a software patent. There are inventions in which software is employed.  As long as some non-software product or process is affected and so long as the claims are limited to use on the product or process, the invention should be patentable.

A well-known patent attorney is skeptical about the value to the economy of a patent on software where the claims are not so limited;  that is limited to affecting a defined product or process.  This scope problem is one that applies to all patents.  It was dealt with in 1852 or 1853 by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Samuel F. B. Morse case on the teletype.

The purpose of the patent system is to encourage investment;
investment in inventing; in development and in marketing. The greater the cost of those three matters, the greater the need for a patent.  Outside of software, the Patent Office is too tough on allowing patents.. But these “close” cases should have claims narrow in scope; scope appropriate to the degree of novelty.  Should We Abolish Software Patents