Patent
5319777 referenced by one of NCR's patents claims "multidimensional spreadsheets" that can be viewed in sections at multiple computers but updated individually, affecting the entire spreadsheet for other users. Obviously, this is just a (poorly implemented) relational database. However, without knowing the mathematical background of relational databases, the typical patent clerk probably wouldn't relate the two. The problem with the patent system is that the most convoluted terms can be used to describe a precise, mathematical concept and can make two implementations indistinguishible from each other.
Slashdot Mirror
Patent 5319777 referenced by one of NCR's patents claims "multidimensional spreadsheets" that can be viewed in sections at multiple computers but updated individually, affecting the entire spreadsheet for other users. Obviously, this is just a (poorly implemented) relational database. However, without knowing the mathematical background of relational databases, the typical patent clerk probably wouldn't relate the two. The problem with the patent system is that the most convoluted terms can be used to describe a precise, mathematical concept and can make two implementations indistinguishible from each other.