On Friday 28 August 2009, jtd wrote: > On Friday 28 August 2009, Venkatesh Hariharan wrote: > > I am speaking at this event. In the 15 minutes or so that I have as > > speaker, I intend to broadly cover the evidence against software > > patents. My blog entry on this subject will give a more detailed idea. > > > > It is well known that the U.S. has the most permissive patent system > > in the world. However, even in the US, there are signs that the > > pendulum may be swinging the other way. In the recent Bilski case, > > which dealt with a method of hedging risks in commodities, the US > > courts ruled that abstract ideas which are not tethered to a device > > cannot be patented. The decision reversed the 1998 State Street > > decision that opened the floodgates for software patents. > > > > > > > > Under copyright law, if software developers write code that is similar > > to that of another, they can defend themselves on the grounds of > > independent invention because copyright protects the expression of an > > idea. > > In the printed (books manuscripts) form or in the case of music in rendered > form. Thus you can copyright a drawing for a mouse trap.
EEK. That should be "Thus you cannot copyright a drawing for a mouse trap." -- Rgds JTD _______________________________________________ network mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in
