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Another way of putting it
As a way of promoting commerce, to give the inventor incentive to make the investment necessary to create the invention. Badly beside the point with most software, but it was courts, not the IP community, that decided software met the criteria for patents.

Given the nature of the system, MS patents are as OK as anybody's, as long as they are meant as defense against "patent squatters" (my term, but analogous to the "domain name squatters" - my term also - of a few years back). Give them the benefit of the doubt that their intent is not to inhibit the industry, as some here suggest.
Posted by: IT_User   Posted on: 02/12/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Patents are a MESS  CobraA1 | 02/12/04
Another way of putting it  IT_User | 02/12/04
Did you just arrive from another planet?  km4hr@... | 02/12/04
MS has used  michael-t | 02/12/04
They DID learn a new trick, PATENTS!  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
Must not have been around long  zd-spam | 02/12/04
Squash all competition? No, just open source.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
Trust them - LOL  Update victim | 02/13/04
Now that everybody has weighed in...  IT_User | 02/13/04
i plan to patent  JWatson77 | 02/12/04
Let see  michael-t | 02/12/04
Hold on a minute!  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
maybe  ryusen | 02/12/04
It is strange that  michael-t | 02/12/04
what...patents arent important  jimk_z | 02/12/04
How can you patent the already obsolete?  jorwell | 02/13/04
Huh? Their schema isn't obsolete.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
No it is XML that is already obsolete  jorwell | 02/13/04
You really need to look at Longhorn.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
I hope so...  jorwell | 02/14/04
One thing you can count on...  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
I know what to do. Not like this isn't done all the time anyway...  Michael Kelly | 02/13/04
How do you license GPL'ed code?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
Yes, EVERYONE has the right to use it freely...  Michael Kelly | 02/13/04
And that's why it won't happen.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
How?  Update victim | 02/13/04
Don't see how that would work at all.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
Open source is currently...  IT_User | 02/13/04
On a level playing field that might happen.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04
Large or small corporations  IT_User | 02/13/04
XML and OTHER LANGUAGES  Update victim | 02/13/04
Like it or not, the patent was granted.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 02/13/04

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