Dutch Firm Says Dell Motherboards Violate Its Patent

Call Me Black Cloud writes "This article (also here) briefly discusses a suit against Dell for royalties on US patent 5,594,621. This patent, titled "Motherboard for a computer of the AT type, and a computer of the AT type comprising such motherboard", concerns the layout of ISA and PCI cards on a motherboard. Tulip Computers International somehow managed to convince the USPTO that its arrangement of cards on a mobo was worthy of a patent. Fearing the orderly arrangement of my sock drawer was infringing on a patent, I was relieved to discover only a patent for a magnetic sock holder, which solves the "well known problem associated with everyday laundering...the disarray that can occur with paired items of clothing such as socks"

Comments

Not even cnet...

[OneBarG]

...can do a story without mentioning SCO?

SCO Group has claimed that IBM and other companies owe it billions in damages for allegedly lifting some of its proprietary Unix intellectual property and incorporating it into Linux.

No wonder it's infested virtually every /. posting.

Irrelevant but..

[floydman]

Did any body count the number of patent issues listed on /. today. :

1) The one you are reading

2) SCO vs Linux (ofcorse, this is the daily speical)

3) Chip Firm Hit By 45-Year-Old Patent

4) Nextel Claims Trademarks On "Push To Talk" and "PTT"

And yet more to come through the day..

What is this world comming to, is the whole planet gonna be owned by a bunch of people? I think this is something we should be aware of, you cannot work on a single project now (even for your own pleasure), without VIOLATING one of the patents without you ever noticing.. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM...

Re:Irrelevant but..

[pla]

What is this world comming to, is the whole planet gonna be owned by a bunch of people?

The world itself already does have everything allocated to some "owner". Just try to go out and find something you can legally just claim. Hell, even try to visit the North Pole, supposedly not owned by any country, yet "restricted" from any visitors (by whom, one may well ask?). Let me know if you make it within even half a degree without a representative of some military (of a government which clearly has no jurisdiction there, by international treaty) ventilating your corpse.

The problem at hand deals with something far more insidious than mere physical ownership - Namely, someone may already "own" your very thoughts and ideas.

You don't even need to have signed them away (ie, to your employer), or ever have heard of the "owned" idea or anything related to it. Your parents may have raised you in complete isolation on an island in the South Pacific, yet if you have a particular idea and try to make use of it, someone can sue you into oblivion for that idea.

Life sucks, eh? Well, get ready for it to suck even more, since apparently the sheeple of Earth haven't yet suffered enough at the hands of their Corporate Masters to revolt. 100 hour work weeks won't do it, as long as people can eat. Lack of even appreciation or a heart-felt "thanks" for people literally sacrificing their bodies and souls to their Corporate Masters won't do it. Not until it all comes crashing down, until we realize that we can't "eat" a litigation/service economy, will people insist on change.

But eventually, they will. And "pretty" will not describe the situation.

And if you think I overdramatize the situation, how many unpaid hours did you work last week? Assuming, of course, you had the "luxury" of working, not having recently found your supposedly "unneeded" position curiously occupied by two H1B's or "interns" for a total of 2/3rds of your former salary.

Livin' the American dream. Can I wake up, now? Please?