Patent court rules in Microsoft patent spat

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Properly patenting software ...

If someone were to do a bit-for-bit copy of Windows and sell it, that would be copyright infringement. However, creating another OS that does pretty much what Windows does, is not--OR, if it is, then copyright/patent laws are tyrannical.

It's one thing to copy a widget and sell it. It's another to solve the same problem with a different method. What's being patented--the PROBLEM? Or the SOLUTION? I'd say it's the invention (solution). If a door knob key is invented that puts a lock within a door knob, you can patent, I would think, the lock-embedded doorknob. But this would not include another method for solving the problem--which is: locking/securing the door. What is to stop someone from inventing the door latch or door chain or free-standing door lock outside of the knob and selling it? Nothing.

Without knowing the code comparisons of how the patent holder and MS solved the common problem of linking spreadsheets and databases, there is no way to ascertain if patent-infringement in a form that would be ethically enforceable to me, occurred. However, my gut is that MS had no notion of a patent existed when they broached the problem of linking the two data islands. The patent holder certainly did not "invent" the problem of linking diverse data islands. And I seriously doubt MS could not independently solve this issue without the patent holder's code.

Posted by: lalogos   Posted on: 02/27/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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