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Domain: justice.gc.ca

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  1. Re:how so? by DMuse · · Score: 1 · on IDCT Approximation: Worth a Patent?
    even engineering equations can be patented and often are. in aircraft construction, even the curves that describe the shape of wings are patented and protected by copyright

    You need to differentiate between a specific application and a general concept. Patent protection is not afforded for Bernoulli's equations that describe lift. However specific implementations to create a specific type of airfoil would be eligible for patent.

    From the Canadian Patent Act, 27(8) states:
    (8) No patent shall be granted for any mere scientific principle or abstract theorem.
    Bernoulli's equations would likely be considered a mere scientific principle, so in and of themselves are not patentable (forgetting they are more than 20 years old).

    So is this a mere scientific principle or abstract theorem or is it more than that? One poster stated that the patent is for a specific VLSI implementation. If so then great, he deserves a patent for his piece of silicon, but he doesn't deserve a patent to prevent others from implementing the idea in another piece of silicon in a different way.