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Authored by: wharris on Friday, July 20 2012 @ 12:17 PM EDT |
I don't think anyone here is arguing that you can combine, for example, a
computer, an actuator, a camera, a sonar, and a lot of inspiration and hard work
to get a patentable device.
Nor is anyone arguing (at least not here) that creating an improved computer,
such as one that runs at 5GHz instead of 3Ghz, or that has a new type of memory
unit or a faster ALU would be patentable.
What we are arguing is that adding a program to a machine designed and intended
to execute programs does not improve the machine itself any more than adding a
heap of wood to a pickup truck is improving the truck, or plugging a TV on and
turning to channel 3 is improving the TV compared to leaving it unplugged and
untuned.
Do I improve my computer by setting a nice wallpaper on the background? Do I
improve my web browser by setting my home page to Google? Do I improve my
calculator by entering an approximate value for PI?
More to the point, I might "improve" a blank piece of paper by writing
a poem on it, but the result is covered by copyright law, not by patent law.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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