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scott wrote:
>>> The fact that software cannot be patented in most countries. The EU
>>> doesn't
>>> acknowledge software patents.
>>
>> Oh, right. I didn't know that.
>>
>> Does this mean that software patents actually don't get granted? Or
>> just that hypothetically you could go to court to have them revoked?
>
> If it's a clear cut software-only or algorithm-only with no physical
> application it will be rejected, in fact you'd be dumb to waste the
> money trying to apply for a patent, no legal firm would advise you to do
> this.
>
> *But*, if it applies to some physical object that can actually be made,
> then the algorithm/program *can* be patented. For example a novel image
> processing algorithm for improving display quality on a display is fine,
> or a control program for a crane, that sort of thing.
>
> As you can imagine though, there is a huge grey area in the middle, so
> probably some things get through that wouldn't be enforceable in court.
Right. So as long as M$ describes the DirectX API as "a system for
allowing cool programs to run on our OS and nobody else's", they can
patent it. And then sue ReactOS for implementing it.
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