Oh god yes. But at least print comics let you skip ahead. I watched the first chapter for perhaps 3 minutes before I blacked out. That thing moved so slowly I think ice formed on my monitor.
Actually, that's old information. US patent law changed in 1995 as part of GATT. By default, for applications for US patents filed since then, the patent rights expire 20 years after the application is filed. Thus, if the patent office takes only 18 months to process and allow the patent, a patent can be in force for 18.5 years.
In reality, the process usually takes much longer than 18 months. It's not uncommon for patents filed in 1996 to issue now, giving them a life of only 13 years.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh god yes. But at least print comics let you skip ahead. I watched the first chapter for perhaps 3 minutes before I blacked out. That thing moved so slowly I think ice formed on my monitor.
In reality, the process usually takes much longer than 18 months. It's not uncommon for patents filed in 1996 to issue now, giving them a life of only 13 years.