*BSD News Article 7010


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From: mcgregor@netcom.com (Scott Mcgregor)
Subject: Re: Patents:  What they are.  What they aren't.  Other factors.
Message-ID: <1992Oct25.002632.5225@netcom.com>
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
References: <id.X18U.D6J@ferranti.com> <1992Oct20.201929.3183@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <id.R3AU.4ZF@ferranti.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1992 00:26:32 GMT
Lines: 35

In article <id.R3AU.4ZF@ferranti.com> peter@ferranti.com (peter da silva) writes:
>Now THIS is pretty far out. You're claiming that the new situation (software
>patents) explains the preexisting condition (a high rate of innovation).
>
>There's this little thing called "cause and effect". Effects do not precede
>causes.

The problem is, as Dan Bernstein has pointed out, software patents go
back to at least the 1960s. The landmark Diamond Vs. Diehr case was
1980. According to Greg Aharonian there are already thousands of
software patents many from the 70s and early 80s.  So this "new"
situation isn't so "new". Using Bernstein and Aharonian's examples it
is already longer than the lifetime of the early patents. 

Even if we assumed that the current growth of the software industry
WASN'T due to software patents, it does become counter evidence
against the claim that software patents uniformly hurt the
industry--because clearly the industry has grown much more
dramatically than other industries while at the same time as, and even
after thousands of the supposedly dangerous patents had been issued.

Apparently, from Aharonians list, the only thing NEW about software
patents is that there weren't an opponents nor groups (LPF) calling
public attention to them until recently.

-- 

Scott L. McGregor		mcgregor@netcom.com
President			tel: 408-985-1824
Prescient Software, Inc.	fax: 408-985-1936
3494 Yuba Avenue
San Jose, CA 95117-2967