[Patents] Re: [Patents] Re: [Patents] Re:[Patents] Prosecution

[Jean-Jacques de Jong jjdj@free.fr]

Bernard Lang wrote:
 
> Jesus is right on the issue. Is the dissemination of a program a
> patent infringement. Currently, it is unclear, though I do suspect
> that, at least in the state, you would be prosecuted for distributing
> a program with a patented algorithm, for eample RSA or LZW.

You must distinguish between source code and binary code. Distribution
of binary code clearly falls within the scope of a patent, even in
Europe. The question is what happens with the distribution of source
code.
 
> And the current attempt in Europe is to patents "programs as such", i.e.
> information on a physical medium (floppy, CD, paper ???).

It is not at all clear in Europe, even with the new IBM decisions,
whether a patent is enforceable against source code. The European Patent
Office cannot decide on how a patent is enforceable: this is up to the
national jurisdictions. So we must wait for case law.

>   So writing books or disseminating the patent becomes an infringement.
> Absurd ... sure. Where is the line.
 
Of course! So let's hope the judges are reasonable: it's up to them to
define the line.

JJJ