From mark@primefactor.com Tue, 7 Dec 1999 18:39:08 -0500
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 18:39:08 -0500
From: Mark Shewmaker mark@primefactor.com
Subject: [Patents] Re: [Patents] Re: [Patents] Re: [Patents] Re: [Patents] Do software patents exisit in Europe?

On Tue, Dec 07, 1999 at 11:09:41PM -0000, Nick Fleming wrote:
>
> Actually, simplistic seems to be how the
> various patent offices see the software problem
>  As Bernard points out, "they need to change the
> law in order to do what they are already doing".

[..]

> I am still trying
> to figure out how such actions can be considered
> legal.

I wonder what the public response would be for other government agencies
if they reported that they were intentionally doing substantinal amounts
of illegal activities as normal part of their daily business, but that it's
okay and we should not worry about it, because they fully recognize the
need to change the law in order to accommodate their actions.

> I was hoping
> to have it finished this side of Christmas but the prior art
> searches are taking up a little more time that I anticipated.
> Imagine how much effort is involved in checking a full scale,
> industrial strength  application and you have some idea
> of the magnitude of the problem.  Simple as that.

I wonder if you have any suggestions for my project at
http://www.openpatents.org/ .  It's a GPL-like patent
cross-licensing agreement.  It won't completely solve
the problem of software patents, but I think it has the
potential of helping substantially.  (The idea is that
as more people sign on, the more it makes sense for others
to also sign on.  Eventually, most everyone who aquires
patents for defensive reasons should be able to share
each other's patents, except when using a patent owned
by someone who uses a patent offensively.)

 -Mark Shewmaker
  mark@primefactor.com




