On Thu, 14 Oct 1999, juan wrote:
> So you *think* there should be ONE spreadsheet, ONE word processor and ONE OS,
> isn�t it ?
> Are you a microsoft *programmer* ?
>
He was explaining how US patents work, not defending them. They still
need to be unobvious and novel. This means you can not patent the idea of
a spread-sheet. If you invent a new and unobvious way to implement a
spread-sheet, or some part of it you can patent that.
The real problem with US software patents is that the Patent Office is not
really qualified (currently) to determine the obvious-ness of an idea.
Brian Beattie | The only problem with
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | winning the rat race ...
www.aracnet.com/~beattie | in the end you're still a rat
