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The information on Groklaw is not intended to constitute legal advice. While Mark is a lawyer and he has asked other lawyers and law students to contribute articles, all of these articles are offered to help educate, not to provide specific legal advice. They are not your lawyers.

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Incorrect. | 364 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Incorrect.
Authored by: OpenSourceFTW on Friday, January 04 2013 @ 03:02 PM EST
The source code is already copyrighted. That would be infringement.

However, if their source code is different enough, then the algorithm is
different enough not to infringe on the copyright. Why should it infringe on a
software patent?

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Quality software patents
Authored by: mbouckaert on Saturday, January 05 2013 @ 12:32 PM EST
The issue is: what you cannot use, in reality you don't have.

Suppose you patent something as an independent, garage-bound developer; only to
see some MegaCorp apparently use it:

(1) How do you ascertain they do? If it's MegaCorp you don't have source code
and only vague description of the involved modules.

(2) Suppose you are sure. How do you get a high-enough probability of win to
risk your livelihood and hire a (set of) attorneys?

(3) Assuming you win, some day, will you still be alive (and in that business)?

Sure, sometimes it has happened. Microsoft lost on the extended-XML thing; and
the claimant's business was still active. But lack of any patent taxonomy cuts
against (1) even in open source code; fuzziness of patents cuts both ways for
(2), and justice denied because justice delayed is a fact of life for (3).

That SW patents help the small developer is a cruel myth.


---
bck

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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