At least in California, Verizon started life as GTE, which was a rival company to AT&T. GTE was not a part of AT&T. It is probably not fair to call GTE a rival to AT&T, because both companies held/still hold monopolies over their service areas. Los Angeles County is divided into two service areas, AT&T and Verizon. If you live in one territory, you cannot get service from the other. Years ago, GTE was known for its lousy service, with their customers yerning for AT&T, which they couldn't get without moving.
The article states, "Another major change would be to award a patent to the first person to submit their paperwork to the Patent Office. Currently, patents are awarded to the first person who concocted the invention, a timeframe that can be difficult to prove."
Based on this, would it be possible for someone to take someone else's idea published in the open literature, concoct the software, file for the patent, and have it awarded?
So, let's say sales drop because people are disgusted with TigerDirect's boneheaded move. Obvious, they were right. Apple diluting their brand name. Er, right?
post hoc ergo propter hoc
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At least in California, Verizon started life as GTE, which was a rival company to AT&T. GTE was not a part of AT&T. It is probably not fair to call GTE a rival to AT&T, because both companies held/still hold monopolies over their service areas. Los Angeles County is divided into two service areas, AT&T and Verizon. If you live in one territory, you cannot get service from the other. Years ago, GTE was known for its lousy service, with their customers yerning for AT&T, which they couldn't get without moving.
I wonder if this might be a case of prior art from 1995?
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~newrep/vol13/no4news.html
Scroll down to the article "Jukebox is a sound success"
Does anyone have any more details about this? Does it cover the same claims as the Contois patent?
Thanks for clearing this up.
This remindes me of the sad story of Edwin Armstrong, the true inventor of FM radio http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Armstrong.
The article states, "Another major change would be to award a patent to the first person to submit their paperwork to the Patent Office. Currently, patents are awarded to the first person who concocted the invention, a timeframe that can be difficult to prove."
Based on this, would it be possible for someone to take someone else's idea published in the open literature, concoct the software, file for the patent, and have it awarded?
So, let's say sales drop because people are disgusted with TigerDirect's boneheaded move. Obvious, they were right. Apple diluting their brand name. Er, right? post hoc ergo propter hoc
She ends her missive with, "Why am I complaining about this? Why isn't everyone?"
Is it because perhaps she knows not of what she speaks? Me thinks she complains too much.