🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <CLIPPER.91Mar5004414@no13sun.csd.uwo.ca> clipper@no13sun.csd.uwo.ca (Khun Yee Fung) writes:
>
>I am certainly not familiar with patents and patent laws. I have a
>question.  Do I violate the patent law if I dreamed up a new way to
>implement some algorithm; wrote a program using that new method; and
>distributed it free of charge, say, through USENET without knowing
>that that `new' method had been patented long ago? 

First of all, patent law is what is called "civil law", you can't be
arrested by the government for violating it. THe worst that can happen
is that someone (company or individual) can sue you for "infringment"
and either make you stop or make you pay a license fee. Of course if the
court orders you to stop doing something and you don't that is another
matter!

Free distribution of something makes no difference if a patent is
infringed, but it is hardly worth spending a lot of money to stop you
doing so! As I point out in an ealier post, if you really threaten
someone's business then patents by giving away what they are trying to
sell then there are a lot of ways to "get" you that are far more
effective than patents!

>Does my program
>have to be implemented reasonably close to the patent before it
>violates the patent law or same idea is good enough? 

This all depemnds on the patent. Under an international convention this
must be defined in a "claims" section. In the U.S. this is a section
which starts "I claim", in Canada a typical statement is "The
embodiments of the invention for which an exclusive property or priviege
is claimed are defined as follows".

However it is worded this section defines EXACTLY what is patented! If a
single item is different from your implementation then you do not
infringe the patent.

>What could be the repercussions? 

You could get sued (see above). Typically you get a nasty letter from
the owner's lawyer first though and then get to talk about it
(negotiate).

>How about using such a program. For example, MGR from
>bellcore is a windowing system. From what I know, it does window
>storing differently from X. The question is, I don't know whether it
>violates any patents. Does the use of the program constitutes any
>offenses (if it does violate some patents)?

Unless someone informs you that you are infringing and tells you to stop
you are an "innocent infringer" and generally the only penalty will be
to stop using the invention.

>Please don't say ask my lawyer. I don't have the money to hire a
>lawyer.

Hardly necessary, despite the wild statements. Almost all lawyers
however will give a certain amount of general advice by phone without
charge. (No gaurantees though :-) )

>I guess I should read the article in DDJ. Anybody cares to give me the
>issue number and date?

I don't have that reference, but try Communnications of the ACM V33 no.
8, Aug 1990 pages 23-27 for a somewhat biased overview. THe bias is
mostly confined to a statement of the author's opinion, the facts are
quite accurate although they apply to U.S. law.

CACM should be easier to find in your University library thand DDJ.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer so none of this is a legal opinion.

-- 
           *Mike Waters    AA4MW/7  waters@nddsun1.sps.mot.com *
If you cannot convince them, confuse them.
		-- Harry S Truman