Darren New wrote:
> Darren New wrote:
>> No. Really. It hasn't.  You can use that formula to draw pretty 
>> pictures, for example, and they have no patent on that.
> 
> Or, to put it another way...
> 
> JPEG, MPEG, and MP3 are all patented. That doesn't stop you from using 
> DFT for other purposes.

And (Hi Andrew!) CDMA is patented for cell phones, but maybe not for other 
processes. You could probably use CDMA to deliver cable TV without running 
into the same patents you would using it for cell phones.

Now, another problem with "software" patents are that they're hard to 
research. Since they get read so widely, it's difficult to do a patent 
search and figure out if it's already invented.  If you're working on a 
machine to make aspirin, it's a safe bet that the patents that cover it 
contain the word "aspirin", "analgesic", etc. If you're working on an 
authentication system, most anything might be interpreted as authenticating 
the user.

For example, there was one argument wherein the patent said "the user's 
computer", and the defense had a system wherein the user could use any 
computer (and indeed was intended to prove it was the right user at any 
arbitrary computer), and the patent holder argued that it was "the user's 
computer" due to the fact that it was the computer he was using, even tho 
the patent talked about specialized hardware dongles attached to "the user's 
computer", and the patent holder wanted "specialized dongle" to be read as 
"any password-like mechanism, including passwords".  They also argued that 
the SSL nonce acted as the dongle. That's the sort of crap that causes 
trouble. Maybe there's just more stupid patent trolls in software, or maybe 
this crap goes on all the time and I just don't see it since I do software.

Then again, I heard of a very expensive patent case where basically 
backoff/retry was patented for a particular yet wide-spread purpose, and the 
patent was upheld.  Which seems rather wrong to me, as it really was the 
obvious way to do it.  I think they need a test like taking a random 
professional and asking "If you had to solve problem X, how would you solve 
it?" And if the person gives the solution in the patent, throw it out.

"If you needed to talk on a communication channel, and you wanted to reduce 
interference during collisions, what would you do?"  "Well, try, and if you 
get a collision, wait a little while and try again."  Bzzzt. Throw out the 
patent.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Insanity is a small city on the western
   border of the State of Mind.

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