So you *think* there should be ONE spreadsheet, ONE word processor and ONE OS,
isn�t it ?
Are you a microsoft *programmer* ?
"Timothy J. Massey" wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Oct 1999 16:17:36 +0000, juan wrote:
>
> >Hi !
> >
> >About patent.
> >
> >Spanish laws, I think it should be similar in other countries, DON T
> >allow a program to be pantented. Only if they are part of another
> >patent,
> >wich should include some especifications, something material....
>
> Sorry, but Spanish law and US law are *completely* different.
>
> In the US, you can have a patent on a 100% software algorithm. For example,
> there is a patent on the algorithm used to compress GIF graphics. No matter
> how you code it, if you implement a program capable of generating GIF files,
> you've violated the patent. NO MATTER WHAT YOUR IMPLEMENTATION IS. Merely
> writing code that uses that algorithm (not program instructions, but the
> mere idea of function) violates the patent.
>
> >An aplication can be protected by intelectual property but this allows
> >an user to study or to copy the way it works or its interface.
>
> That's copyright law. Copyright law protects an exact implementation. If
> GIF was protected by a copyright, you just couldn't use the exact
> instructions that Unisys used. But it's more than copyrighted. It's
> patented. There is absolutely NO legal way of creating GIF graphics that
> does not violate Unisys' patents.
>
> That's just how US patents work. Any patents that VMware may be able to get
> will work *exactly* the same way.
>
> Tim Massey
