Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Copies Idea, Admits It, Then Patents It
An anonymous reader writes "BlueJ is a popular academic IDE which lets students have a visual programming interface. Microsoft copied the design in their 'Object Test Bench' feature in Visual Studio 2005 and even admitted it. Now, a patent application has come to light which patents the very same feature, blatantly ignoring prior art."
If MS doesn't apply for/receive a patent, someone else will. That pantentholder will then sue the pants off anybody and everybody (with money) who tries to use anything that resembles bluej. That's the game and those are the rules. If you don't like the game, don't play. If you don't like the rules, get 'em changed.
It takes more than whining on Slashdot to fix this.