[Patents] BROAD PATENT COULD HAMPER INTERNATIONAL E-COMMERCE

[Bernard Lang lang@margaux.inria.fr]

An interesting piece of news ... but I do not have access to the
original Wall Street Journal article.  If anyone has it ....

Bernard


----- Forwarded message from NewsScan <newsscan@newsscan.com> -----

From: "NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>
NewsScan Daily, 28 August 2000 ("Above The Fold")

BROAD PATENT COULD HAMPER INTERNATIONAL E-COMMERCE
A small company in Virginia has received notice that the U.S. Patent Office 
plans to grant it a patent covering "a process for carrying out an 
international transaction... using computer-to-computer communication." 
Should DE Technologies prevail, companies using the Internet for 
computer-to-computer international trade would have to pay a 0.3% royalty 
fee on the value of every transaction. That could add up to big bucks 
quickly -- Forrester Research predicts e-commerce will total about $6.8 
trillion in 2004. If even 10% of that is cross-border, DE Technologies 
would be owed $2.4 billion in that year alone. Critics say this is exactly 
the type of overly broad patent involving "business methods" that shouldn't 
be granted, but the application has been under review for three years, and 
Patent Office officials say unless an examiner concludes that someone else 
invented such a process before DE Technologies' patent application was 
filed, it's likely to be granted. (Wall Street Journal 28 Aug 2000)
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB967411477666795754.htm


----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
         Non aux Brevets Logiciels  -  No to Software Patents
           SIGNEZ    http://petition.eurolinux.org/    SIGN

Bernard.Lang@inria.fr             ,_  /\o    \o/    Tel  +33 1 3963 5644
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~lang/  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  Fax  +33 1 3963 5469
            INRIA / B.P. 105 / 78153 Le Chesnay CEDEX / France
         Je n'exprime que mon opinion - I express only my opinion
                 CAGED BEHIND WINDOWS or FREE WITH LINUX