From spam@john-edwin-tobey.org Thu, 24 Jun 1999 22:35:01 -0400 (EDT)
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 22:35:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Tobey spam@john-edwin-tobey.org
Subject: [Patents] Source-Only Patent Infringement under US Law?

Since no one has answered, I'll take a guess.  I haven't read any
patent laws, but my impression is that they restrict the *use* and not
the *production* of goods.  So, under this theory, you can implement
any algorithm in any language and give or sell the program to anyone,
but as soon as someone tries to do anything useful with it, they have
to worry about patents.


Ashley Yakeley <AshleyB@halcyon.com> wrote:
> An American question.
> 
> Under US law, can a software patent be infringed by providing source code?
> 
> Supposing I look up the MP3 patent, and write an MP3 encoder. I publish 
> the source code and a make-file, but no compiled code, on my web-site. 
> Under US law, have I infringed the MP3 patent?
> 
> What if I write it in a language like Perl, which can be run by the user 
> without an explicit intermediate compile step?
> 
> I note that a recent court case struck down export restrictions on 
> encryption source code, on the grounds that the law restricted free 
> speech. Does this help?
> 
> 
> -- 
> Ashley Yakeley, Seattle WA




