🚀 go-pugleaf

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|>Well perhaps there should be in the form of recognition, fame, tenure,
|>promotions, prizes and so forth.  But why should there be *patents*?
|>Why should the reward be a government granted monopoly to screw the
|>public?
|>
|>Such monopolies aren't granted for discoveries in physics or chemistry.
|>Why should they be granted for discoveries in computer science?  Oh,
|>computer science is different, you say?  It's really not a science, but
|>a business.  Screwing the public is what it's really all about.  And the
|>government should support that.  It's the American Way.  Yeah.

Plenty of patents are issued for discoveries in chemistry and physics.
Nylon, or Kevlar, or even certain compositions of superconductors are
all covered by patents.  Look at medicine: patents on artificial
joints, drugs, testing systems...  And it's okay to have a monopoly if
you sew up all the patents in a field -- for example, any number of
companies in the drug business have the sole rights to produce unique
drugs at whatever price the market will bear.

Until recently, software was unusual in that patents could not be
issued for new algorithms -- they were considered to be equivalent to
new mathematical methods, which are also unpatentable.  Now, the
Patent Office has decided that novel algorithms and methods are
equivalent in patentability to novel compositions of matter or
processes, and are not simply mathematics.

Before people start attacking software patents, it would really be
useful for them to understand exactly what a patent is and what legal
protections it provides.

===============================================================================
Ken Meltsner                        | meltsner@crd.ge.com (518) 387-6391
GE Research and Development Center  | Fax:  (518) 387-7495
P.O. Box 8, Room K1/MB207	    | Nothing I say should be attributed
Schenectady, NY 12301               | to my employer, and probably vice-versa
=================Dep't of Materials Science, ACME Looniversity=================