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> I suppose I'll have to wait 25 years (or whatever the French patent expiry length is), though. Is that how patents work in general? I always thought (and co

by nickjj 5y ago

> I suppose I'll have to wait 25 years (or whatever the French patent expiry length is), though. Is that how patents work in general? I always thought (and could be very wrong here) that if a patent exists for something but you've developed an alternative something in total isolation without seeing the patent then you would have free reign on how to design and develop your thing without violating the patent.

karatinversion 5y ago
The opposite is true, in fact - a patent is a monopoly on the patented technology, no matter where alternative implementations come from. You might be thinking of “clean room” techniques which protect against claims of copyright infringement.
- nickjj 5y ago
  > You might be thinking of “clean room” techniques which protect against claims of copyright infringement. Ah yes, that's what I was thinking of -- thanks. Specifically a scene from an episode of Halt and Catch Fire (I won't describe it due to spoilers). That's a real bummer for patents though and makes me wonder how something like Amazon's 1-click checkout was able to be patented. I wonder how "save billing details for future use" can be considered a novel idea.
  - Dangeranger 5y ago
    I believe those scenes were an amalgamation of Tim Paterson’s clean room implementation of DOS from the CP/M manuals [0] and Compaq’s IBM compatible BIOS implementation[1]. They are a some of my favorites, and are fun to watch. [0] https://dfarq.homeip.net/did-microsoft-steal-dos-from-cpm/ https://dfarq.homeip.net/did-microsoft-steal-dos-from-cpm/ [1] https://dfarq.homeip.net/first-compaq-computer/ https://dfarq.homeip.net/first-compaq-computer/
  - bccdee 5y ago
    > Amazon's 1-click checkout For a long time, software patenting law was famously lax. You could basically patent anything software-related if you knew the right legalese. The situation has apparently gotten better after a 2014 SCOTUS ruling, but in the '90s and '00s it was pretty dire. https://www.eff.org/issues/stupid-patent-month https://www.eff.org/issues/stupid-patent-month https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608772/the-battle-against-stupid-software-patents-is-on.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608772/the-battle-against...
- kizer 5y ago
  What's the thing where you have to license your patent? Like when it's used in a standard or something?
  - 7steps2much 5y ago
    You might be talking about "Essentially Patents"? > Standards organizations, therefore, often require members disclose and grant licenses to their patents and pending patent applications that cover a standard that the organization is developing. > https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_patent https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_patent Please not that this is less of a "You have to offer licenses or else" and more of a "Hey please do that."

by nickjj 5y ago

karatinversion 5y ago

The opposite is true, in fact - a patent is a monopoly on the patented technology, no matter where alternative implementations come from. You might be thinking of “clean room” techniques which protect against claims of copyright infringement.

nickjj 5y ago
> You might be thinking of “clean room” techniques which protect against claims of copyright infringement. Ah yes, that's what I was thinking of -- thanks. Specifically a scene from an episode of Halt and Catch Fire (I won't describe it due to spoilers). That's a real bummer for patents though and makes me wonder how something like Amazon's 1-click checkout was able to be patented. I wonder how "save billing details for future use" can be considered a novel idea.
- Dangeranger 5y ago
  I believe those scenes were an amalgamation of Tim Paterson’s clean room implementation of DOS from the CP/M manuals [0] and Compaq’s IBM compatible BIOS implementation[1]. They are a some of my favorites, and are fun to watch. [0] https://dfarq.homeip.net/did-microsoft-steal-dos-from-cpm/ https://dfarq.homeip.net/did-microsoft-steal-dos-from-cpm/ [1] https://dfarq.homeip.net/first-compaq-computer/ https://dfarq.homeip.net/first-compaq-computer/
- bccdee 5y ago
  > Amazon's 1-click checkout For a long time, software patenting law was famously lax. You could basically patent anything software-related if you knew the right legalese. The situation has apparently gotten better after a 2014 SCOTUS ruling, but in the '90s and '00s it was pretty dire. https://www.eff.org/issues/stupid-patent-month https://www.eff.org/issues/stupid-patent-month https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608772/the-battle-against-stupid-software-patents-is-on.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608772/the-battle-against...
kizer 5y ago
What's the thing where you have to license your patent? Like when it's used in a standard or something?
- 7steps2much 5y ago
  You might be talking about "Essentially Patents"? > Standards organizations, therefore, often require members disclose and grant licenses to their patents and pending patent applications that cover a standard that the organization is developing. > https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_patent https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_patent Please not that this is less of a "You have to offer licenses or else" and more of a "Hey please do that."