Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 23:24:21 +0000 (GMT) From: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> To: rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in (Rahul Siddharthan) Cc: tlambert@primenet.com (Terry Lambert), freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: On "intelligent people" and "dangers to BSD" Message-ID: <200003242324.QAA10120@usr08.primenet.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.20.0003250230420.36561-100000@theory1.physics.iisc.ernet.in> from "Rahul Siddharthan" at Mar 25, 2000 02:47:09 AM
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> Well I'm no lawyer (and know nothing of US law). > > But from what I can find from brief web searches, it seems that > before the change in patent law, the lifetime for "utility > patents" in the US was 17 years from date of issue, not 14 years. > For "design patents" it was and continues to be 14 years from > date of issue. LZW looks to me like a utility patent. Technically, it's a process patent, like "Bessemer Steel". > So it would seem that the LZW patent will expire only in 2002... My take on all this "intellectual property" BS is this: Fine; treat it as if it were real property. Then through adverse use, I can establish a prescriptive lien, which will allow me to continue using it without your permission. This is the same principle that allows your neighbor, who has parked in front of your house for 2 years, to continue parking there, even if you have bought a second car, and have no place to park it because your driveway has your first car in it. He has established a right to that spot, even though it is in front of your house, by virtue of you not stopping him. If Unisys wants to go after the UNIX "compress" utility, I think a case can be made for adverse use, especially with the case law history the software industry has built up in the apellate courts, blurring the distinction between real property and intellectual property for their own benefit. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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