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From: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,misc.int-property,alt.suit.att-bsdi,comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: Patents: What they are. What they aren't. Other factors.
Date: 1 Oct 1992 17:42:59 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
Lines: 29
Distribution: inet
Message-ID: <1afdb3INNbl5@early-bird.think.com>
References: <1992Sep30.035812.124@netcom.com> <1adcdkINNljf@early-bird.think.com> <1992Oct1.091739.10285@netcom.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: telecaster.think.com
In article <1992Oct1.091739.10285@netcom.com> mcgregor@netcom.com (Scott Mcgregor) writes:
>In article <1adcdkINNljf@early-bird.think.com> barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes:
>>Changing signals on a modem control line is a physical process, as is
>>specific physical transformation that is performed using the result.
>>That's what makes the physical transformation inessential.
>I don't follow this. This seems to be saying that it is inessential
>because it is physical.
It's easy to twist my words by taking them out of context. You edited out
the critical second sentence in my paragraph. Here's what I actually wrote:
>>Changing signals on a modem control line is a physical process, as is
>>changing polarities on a magnetic medium. The problem is that the patent
>>holders claim that their patent covers both of these, and extends to any
>>other medium. I.e., they claim that any process that performs the
>>compression algorithm is covered by their patent, regardless of the
>>specific physical transformation that is performed using the result.
>>That's what makes the physical transformation inessential.
The physical process isn't inessential because it's physical, it's
inessential because the patent holder doesn't restrict their claim to any
specific physical process. They claim exclusive rights to all physical
processes (including ones that haven't been thought of yet) that involve
this particular mental process (i.e. algorithm) as a component.
--
Barry Margolin
System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.
barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar