🚀 go-pugleaf

On 15 Jul 91 09:31:47 GMT,
mathew@mantis.co.uk (Industrial Poet) said:

rms> (Richard Stallman) writes:
rms> US patent number 4,956,809 covers using a single standard byte
rms> ordering for transfer of data between machines whose normal byte
rms> ordering is different.
rms> [...]
rms> The simplest way to communicate data between different computers is to
rms> set up a convention for the ordering of the bytes in any multi-byte
rms> number.  If the big-endian ordering convention is chosen, then
rms> little-endian computers must reverse the byte order when they read and
rms> write network messages.
rms> 
rms> This is exactly what is covered by US patent 4,956,809.

IP> This is insane.  I can't believe *anyone* -- computer-literate or not --
IP> would consider that patentable.  I can only assume that the patent was
IP> deliberately worded in an obfuscatory manner in order to get it past the
IP> patent office.

IP> "See, some people write their numbers with the millions on the left and the
IP> ones on the right.  Other people write their numbers with the millions on the
IP> right and the ones on the left.  We've got this great idea... if these people
IP> talk to each other, they should decide on just one way of writing numbers so
IP> that they can understand each other.  Can we have a patent?"


IP> mathew

<sarcasm on>

I've got this great idea - I want to patent the idea of storing
printed records in sorted order by a data field - So everyone who is
filing personnel records by name, cough up a licensing fee.

Yeah, that's the ticket, I invented alphabetizing...

<sarcasm off>

The idea of patenting ideas is ridiculous.

(and yes, I did fax a letter to the Patent Office, unfortunately I
didn't think up this example until after I'd already sent it.)

Joe
--
Joe Block (jpb@umbio.med.miami.edu)
"Never send a monster to do the work of an evil genius."