On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, william(at)elan.net wrote:
I searched through US Patent database for Microsoft applications in
the last several years and there are lots and lots of them and some to
me look similar to techniques in use by some open-source projects. This
tactic by such a large company is very disturbing because they know that
open-source movement in general is based on individual collaborative work
and they do not have the money and resources to fight microsoft patents.
In any case, if you want take a look yourself:
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.html
enter "AN/Microsoft" for search parameter
You should take your research to http://groklaw.net. While originally
devoted to covering the SCO debacle, they also cover Microsoft
and software patents. The readership consists of amateur and
real lawyers.
Also, send money and info to http://pubpat.org. They exist to
fight wrongly issued patents, and have a Microsoft watch.
--
Stuart D. Gathman <stuart(_at_)bmsi(_dot_)com>
Business Management Systems Inc. Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
"Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" - background song for
a Microsoft sponsored "Where do you want to go from here?" commercial.