[Patents] Re: [Patents] Re: [Patents] Patent problem

[Jean-Paul Smets jp@smets.com]

Richard Stallman wrote:
> 
>     Here in Italy we use this system for music and such:
>     the author sends a copy of his work to himself in
>     a sealed envelop, to keep in some safe place once received.
> 
> This would be a way of proving you knew of an idea on a certain date.
> But I don't think that makes any difference for patent law.
> 

Actually it does. It can be show to a judge to prove that you are the 
inventor of a
patented idea.

It has 2 possible consequences
        - in the US (first to invent) - it can be used to cancel someone 
else's patent by proving
he was not the first inventor
        - in Europe (first to file) - it can be used to be allowed to use 
your own idea for
youself but someone else will have to pay for patent licenses to the patent 
owner (not to
you)

Still, the envelope trick needs to be accepted as a proof of anteriority by a 
court in
case of trial. The envelope trick is not very efficient in that situation 
because the
patent owner may eventually argue that your envelope is fake.

It is more efficient to publish your ideas in a library (making it non 
patentable).

Another approach is to publish in a newspaper the MD5 code of an article 
where you explain
your idea and keep this article secret (this is equivalent to the envelope 
trick and was
used by ATT in the past).

JPS.