Re: [Patents] Brevets logiciels

[Russell McOrmond <russell@flora.ca>]

On Mon, 19 May 2003, Marcel Martin wrote:

> Here is the beginning of the post sent by OCS
> >Oberthur Card System est titulaire d'un brevet international 
> >décrivant l'invention du «point halving» par E. K.: 
> >WO0104742 (priorité: 9 Juillet 1999).
> They clearly claim they have the patent.
> 
> Are you telling me that this patent doesn't exist? 

  Whether it exists or not, this is further indication of the type of
stifling of innovation we have been speaking of and that the pro-patent
side claims there is no evidence of.  The fact that the state of the
patent application is not trivial to determine is another case of legal
uncertainty which is detrimental to innovation.  The fact that it is safe
to assume that even if it does not adequately qualify for the statutory,
useful, novel, unobvious tests that it is safe to assume it will be
granted anyway (as per pro-swpat Greg's own analysis) is another indicator
of the level of the problem.

  Software has been implemented without knowledge of a patent, and thus
the technique was not learned from the patent.  At first glance it may be
a case of re-invention, but independent re-invention is not a defense
under patent law which is as far as I am concerned a critical flaw in the
entire patent system.  If patents are statutory, useful, novel and
unobvious then re-invention should not be common, except that in software
(where people skilled in the art generally do *not* learn new techniques
through patent disclosure) re-invention is quite common (if not the norm).

> Marcel Martin
---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/> 
 Governance software that controls ICT, automates government policy, or
 electronically counts votes, shouldn't be bought any more than 
 politicians should be bought.  -- http://www.flora.ca/russell/