A more thorough explanation:

The Software Patent Institute is a non-profit organization based in Kansas. Its main purpose is to gather and arrange non-patented software references in a database for researchers who are studying patents.

For example, let's say a company wants to patent a new software program. Before they can do that, they need to make sure that no one else has already patented something similar. The Software Patent Institute's database can help them find out if there are any similar programs that have not been patented yet.

The institute's work is important because it helps prevent companies from patenting software that is not truly original. This can save time and money for both the company and the legal system.