system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do software patent holders know their patents are being infringed when they don't have access to the accused's source code?
gpt
Software patents only require a description of the function, not the literal code required to make it work. This is what gives them the ability to sue programmers who may never have even seen the origin program and its one of the reasons the patient system is so broken.