Thanks for the acknowledgement re: AOLiza - Tim and I did in fact invent AB LONG before your clever AppleScript product shipped. I'm aware of AppleScript and have used it in the past to do tons of work-flow projects involving popular application software: Photoshop, Quark XPress, Filemaker, etc.
But our patent really isn't about using AppleScript or scripting the AOL AIM client.
There are lots of challenges that the/. folks have come up with and we are looking at each of them to see if they're actually on point. My 'knee-jerk reaction' is that they aren't quite there. The patent is subtle and you should read it again. It will also possibly confirm that I'm not a troll but maybe not:-)
Actually the patent process itself forces inventors to file rather NARROW patents. We had a lot more claims in there before narrowing it down to just this one.
We're not against innovation, by the way, without patents the big companies would simply EAT little ones like AB.
Oh... one more thing... the number of patents in the tech space has increased demonstrably over the last decade... the salary and income level of engineers has also increased... I don't see patents negatively impacting the ability of talented engineers and developers to earn a living...
Couple of comments re: IMBot Patent
a) There was no prior art for what we patented - we looked. And it wasn't obvious either.
b) We considered free intellectual property concerns prior to applying but as officers of a corporation we were obliged to do whatever we could to protect our shareholder's rather significant investment in the company - and protecting the firm's IP was tops on the list.
c) There are companies out there (and you and they both know who they are) that would have tried to overtly rip off AB if it had no such protection.
d) I'm willing to bet that my co-founder - Tim Kay - has contributed as much code to the open source movement as most of you (AB certainly utilizes plenty of open source stuff in its development and operations)
e) we allow people to download BuddyScript for nothing - and nothing in the license agreement prevents anyone of you from cloning an interpreter for the language (remember PostScript Clones?)
I strongly advise that the members of the Open Source community grow up, smell the coffee and use their rather significant intellectual engergy to create change from within the system rather than whining like little girly-men every time somebody patents a new idea.
On a related note - an article in the Financial Times this morning pointed out that one of the casualties of the burst tech bubble is casual clothing - apparently the bankers and entrepreneurs are climbing back into their suits for the next round of financings... my guess is engineers may have to do the same thing. Maybe I should patent ties with Penguins on them and sell them through/.
Robert Hoffer
Founder
Chairman
ActiveBuddy
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Thanks for the acknowledgement re: AOLiza - Tim and I did in fact invent AB LONG before your clever AppleScript product shipped. I'm aware of AppleScript and have used it in the past to do tons of work-flow projects involving popular application software: Photoshop, Quark XPress, Filemaker, etc. But our patent really isn't about using AppleScript or scripting the AOL AIM client.
There are lots of challenges that the /. folks have come up with and we are looking at each of them to see if they're actually on point. My 'knee-jerk reaction' is that they aren't quite there. The patent is subtle and you should read it again. It will also possibly confirm that I'm not a troll but maybe not :-)
Thank you for the feedback - useful. What number of sessions should we allow for free vs. selling the server?
Actually the patent process itself forces inventors to file rather NARROW patents. We had a lot more claims in there before narrowing it down to just this one. We're not against innovation, by the way, without patents the big companies would simply EAT little ones like AB. Oh ... one more thing ... the number of patents in the tech space has increased demonstrably over the last decade ... the salary and income level of engineers has also increased ... I don't see patents negatively impacting the ability of talented engineers and developers to earn a living ...
Couple of comments re: IMBot Patent a) There was no prior art for what we patented - we looked. And it wasn't obvious either. b) We considered free intellectual property concerns prior to applying but as officers of a corporation we were obliged to do whatever we could to protect our shareholder's rather significant investment in the company - and protecting the firm's IP was tops on the list. c) There are companies out there (and you and they both know who they are) that would have tried to overtly rip off AB if it had no such protection. d) I'm willing to bet that my co-founder - Tim Kay - has contributed as much code to the open source movement as most of you (AB certainly utilizes plenty of open source stuff in its development and operations) e) we allow people to download BuddyScript for nothing - and nothing in the license agreement prevents anyone of you from cloning an interpreter for the language (remember PostScript Clones?) I strongly advise that the members of the Open Source community grow up, smell the coffee and use their rather significant intellectual engergy to create change from within the system rather than whining like little girly-men every time somebody patents a new idea. On a related note - an article in the Financial Times this morning pointed out that one of the casualties of the burst tech bubble is casual clothing - apparently the bankers and entrepreneurs are climbing back into their suits for the next round of financings ... my guess is engineers may have to do the same thing. Maybe I should patent ties with Penguins on them and sell them through /.
Robert Hoffer
Founder
Chairman
ActiveBuddy