Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> Supreme Court To Hear Arguments On Software Patents And Open Source
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The opponents of proliferating software patents who see them as a threat
> | to open source software may finally get their day in court--the U.S.
> | Supreme Court.
> `----
>
> http://www.governmententerprise.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=192501175
I'm surprised that no one has argued that the changes in patent law and
patent policy is an ex-post-facto law. Since the Patent office is now
allowing things developed 20 years ago to be patented as "new"
inventions, simply because the patent office has no prior record of it.
It would also be nice if the patent office, or the courts, would revoke
patents if ANY prior art was withheld or not disclosed.
Keep in mind that until about 1994, you couldn't patent an algorythm,
and you couldn't patent an idea. After 1994, all you had to do is come
up with an idea for how you could use an algorythm, and the combination
became patentable, even if the use of this algorythem in this fashion
had been previously disclosed.
You can't patent the heap sort, but you could patent the use of the
heap sort to optimize bulk mailings, even though mass mailers have been
heap-sorting their mail to minimize shipping costs almost since the
passing of the constitution. They have certainly been doing this since
the deployment of the ZIP code, in something like the 1960s?
THAT would be an interesting test case.
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