🚀 go-pugleaf

Michael I Bushnell (mib@churchy.gnu.ai.mit.edu) wrote:
>> You are incorrect.  There are two types of patents: method patents and
>> object patents.  Software patents are all method patents, which apply
>> to the person who uses the method.  The software developer might be
>> contributing to infringment (and a user themselves) but the user is
>> also an infringer.

I'm not living in US; nor am I a legal expert.  However, the above is
also true in HK.

>> The difference depends on whether it is a method or object patents.
>> In the case of car building, any method patents are used only by the
>> factor, not the car owner.  This is thus different from software,
>> where the user is a user of the method.

Now, what if I write a program which, when fed with the same input
data, will produce the same output as the LZW algorithm?

A method patent only prevents others from using that method, but
never prevents others from obtaining the same product using a
sufficiently different method!  So, if my program, say, do it
using some magic mathematical formulae rather than the code-table
lookup in the LZW algorithm, it should not be infringing, should it?

Then, my opinion is that a method patent is highly implementation
dependent!  So, using a different implementation generating the same
output will not be an infringing act.