Slashdot Mirror
Are MS, W3C Barking Up Wrong Prior Art Tree?
theodp writes "CNET reports on how Microsoft and the W3C are spotlighting old technology - Pei Wei's Viola browser and W3C staff member Dave Raggett's HTML+ specification - in an effort to defeat Eolas' Web patent. In his ruling, the Eolas judge agreed that a Wei presentation that included an interactive image of a chessboard came close to prior art, but explained that the late 1994 date of invention excluded it from the ambit of prior art. Perhaps the judge might have ruled differently had he been shown January 1994 correspondence between Tim Berners-Lee, Pei Wei, Dave Raggett, and others in response to a challenge to match the prior art of the interactive, networked games that were operational on the PLATO system in the 70s at the University of Illinois to make it possible to develop browser-based chess games." (Read on for more.)
theodp continues: "If they were up on PLATO history, Microsoft's lawyers could have shown the judge that operational prior art existed two decades earlier than Eolas', Wei's, and Raggett's efforts. Not only that, there are striking similarities between PLATO and Eolas patents. BTW, Eolas patent holder Michael Doyle obtained his degrees from the University of Illinois, where PLATO was developed and widely used."
Congrats, you've completed the reductio. It is proven that the legal advice given on Slashdot is a joke.
Unforunately for you, your ideas have prior art dating back to Plato.
...sorry, just temporarily dazzled by the sun reflecting off your tinfoil hat.
Konqueror KDE 3.2 has spell check to correct your spelling. That way you don't look rediculous.
Et's spelt Kenqueror you ensensitive clod!
Well, there you have the problem.
We've got so many humans in the world, so many thieving, conniving proletariat brains thinking without corporate oversight, that there's no easy way for the legitimate, financed inventors to make a profit.
Where would we be if you went around willy-nilly using any idea that struck you as useful? I'll tell you: a hellish chaos of untended progress and distributed profit.
Software Patents: Because Extortionists are People Too