begin Steven M. Bellovin quotation:
> It's U.S. patent 5,214,703; International Patent PCT/CH91/00117. I
> don't the expiration dates for sure; however, the U.S. one was filed
> January 7, 1992 and issued May 25, 1993. I believe that based on
> those dates, it will expire 20 years from the filing date. (The other
> choice is 17 years from the issuance date.) Either way, it's not this
> year....
After the Uruguay Round GATT, the USA ratified an international
"Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property", which
extended US patents from the traditional 17 years to a more uniform 20
years. This took effect starting with patent applications on
1995-06-08. Both the RSA and (US) IDEA patents were before that, and
thus are 17-year patents.
I finally figured the above out a few days ago: The dates have always
clearly indicated that RSA's is a 17-year patent, but all the US Patent
& Trademark Office's materials say 20. When I decided the inconsistency
had bothered me long enough, I sat down and researched it.
--
Cheers, "Censeo Toto nos in Kansa esse decisse."
Rick Moen -- D. Gale
rick (at) linuxmafia.com
