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DVDCCA Claims Patent on CSS

Posted by michael on from the patent-leather-shoes dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After dropping their suit against Andrew Bunner, DVDCCA has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against 321 Studios. This is an interesting claim, because since patents are published, something can not be both patented and a trade secret."

12 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. phew by Tirel · · Score: 5, Funny

    for a second there i thought they had a patent on CSS

  2. And I thought... by jamesjw · · Score: 4, Funny


    And I thought CSS was dead..

    I mean how many times do they have to crack it before they realise that the cats already out of the bag?

    Its been circumvented so many times, how can they hold a straight face while that file for legal action against 321studios?

    *shakes head*

    -- Jim.

    --
    -- If at first you don't succeed, lie!
  3. 321 studios by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    DVDCCA has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against 321 Studios

    Wow, after seeing the MPAA issue hundreds of subpoenas, it somehow didn't occur to me that DVDCCA didn't actually sue 321 studios, but a company named 321 Studios.

    Kudos to these guys for the choice of name. It's almost as if they expected to be sued and wanted to make a good joke out of it. Well done!

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:321 studios by spektr · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's almost as if they expected to be sued and wanted to make a good joke out of it.

      Remembers me of Douglas Adams, who said that Branwell Bronte "died standing up leaning against a mantelpiece, in order to prove that it could be done".

    2. Re:321 studios by nathanh · · Score: 5, Funny
      Wow, after seeing the MPAA issue hundreds of subpoenas, it somehow didn't occur to me that DVDCCA didn't actually sue 321 studios, but a company named 321 Studios.

      It was actually only 78 studios, but some of those companies had 8x speed burners.

    3. Re:321 studios by thedugal · · Score: 2, Funny
      It was actually only 78 studios, but some of those companies had 8x speed burners.

      34*8+44*1=316
      35*8+43*1=323

      Evidently 37 studios had 8x burners, but 4 of those studios only ran them at 4x speed for some reason...

  4. I read it the same way by Trillan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Holy panic attack, batman!

    And I'd only just figured out how to do text shadows today!!

  5. Software: simultaneous patent and trade secret by rollingcalf · · Score: 3, Funny

    What do you mean something cannot be patented and also be a trade secret?

    Our store-bought legislators have allowed software to be patented, copyrighted, trademarked, and be a trade secret all at the same time!

    The algorithms in a patent may not actually work as described, because there is no requirement to prove them for correctness or submit a working program. There may be subtle modifications required to get it to actually work. However, if you implement a working program that does the the same thing you can be sued for infringement.

    Second, the patent language is usually so obfuscated with legalese, redundancy and excess verbosity that the patent is of little use to someone who wants to build a working program.

    The lack of a requirement to publish source code, combined with the obfuscated patent language, allows software to effectively remain a trade secret even after it has been patented.

    --
    ---------
    There is inferior bacteria on the interior of your posterior.
  6. Re:SHUT THE FUCK UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    if you actually bother to read some comments you'll see you are completely redundant.


    Jeez. What next? Expecting us to read the article? C'mon, this is Slashdot.
  7. The DVDCCA claims patent on CSS? Too late! by Peter+Cooper · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, they have a fight on their hand. A Slashdot story from just over five years ago claimed Microsoft had already patented it! (As an aside, check out the /. user ids in that old post)

  8. Re:What happens to the world... by CdBee · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just think, if the US Army had claimed a patent on WMDs you could have won the Cold War, Iraq and N.Korea in the courts...

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  9. Re:What happens to the world... by Qrlx · · Score: 2, Funny

    But then my stock in Pfizer would go down and the economy would suffer.

    People suffering is fine. The economy suffering is a big concern!