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From: terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C)
Subject: Re: Interface monopolies Re: Patents: What they are. What they aren't. Other factors.
Message-ID: <1992Nov3.184022.22163@fcom.cc.utah.edu>
Sender: news@fcom.cc.utah.edu
Organization: Weber State University (Ogden, UT)
References: <id.SSJU.KXL@ferranti.com> <1992Oct31.043526.11350@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <id.DYMU._TB@ferranti.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 92 18:40:22 GMT
Lines: 35
In article <id.DYMU._TB@ferranti.com> peter@ferranti.com (peter da silva) writes:
>In article <1992Oct31.043526.11350@fcom.cc.utah.edu> terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C) writes:
>> Look-and-feel suits are based on a platform of copyright infringement, not
>> patent infringement. This is the type of "software patent" I'm against,
>> since copyright protection can be maintained *much* longer than patent
>> protection.
>
>I refer to these (and the Hayes patent, for example) as interface monopolies.
>I think that they are a much bigger problem than algorithm patents in the long
>run, but right now I'm just watching to see what happens.
"Look and feel" is a direct result of an attempt to extend the protection
granted in a copyright to effectively produce a "software patent", or at
least the equivalent. The problem is the term limitations on the patent
as an instrument are much more reasonable than those on a copyright that
provided the same protection.
If design patents on software existed, this would basically remove the
teeth from the claims that this is the only method available to provide
needed protection. As it is, SVID is protected for many, many years as
an interface monopoly than it would have been if the only protection
available were a design patent (for instance).
Terry Lambert
terry@icarus.weber.edu
terry_lambert@novell.com
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.
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