1) As a patent attorney I work for the interest of my client, who wants to secure a patent. Laws are written with words, and can't deal with each and every particular situation. So, if the arguments for a patent application are rejected, you try it another way. If you secure that patent, the border may have shifted a bit. That's a starting ground for the next discussion. And it is apparently in human nature to like winning arguments.
2) A law comes with an explanation why it is there. An yes, that is the point. Logic sense tells you the same: If it takes me 100k to develop a product and you can copy mine for 10k, you can sell your product way cheaper than I can. I may go broke, while you get a profit.
Patent law is a necessary evil. But its basics are pretty nice. The general idea is: sharing. Sharing knowledge, and you can't keep the monopoly on the knowledge for ever. It will become the property of the society, so the whole society can benefit.
The (perceived) attitude of your post is interesting. And why judge me for the one click-patent. Firstly, I'm against software patents for several reasons (I mentioned that I could think of an exception, where I would say that indeed an invention is present: compression algorithms). One of them is that they rarely do share info, yet a monopoly is granted. The problem with software is implementing the idea (and getting all the bugs out). So, for that reason software patents should not be granted. Indeed I've written a paper to support open source advocates here in the Netherlands, and attended a meeting on this subject with a "sub" minister of economic affairs being present, in an effort to convince her that patenting software is not a good idea (I think it is detrimental to the economy and my business, because they will slow down progress in fields other than software). There are other factors here too: If some software is available for one platform only (and patents can ensure that), that is something that really can kill platforms. I'd rather have competition. Mac OS X wouldn't be as good as it is (or even exist at all) if Apple had had a patent on the GUI in 1984. And Windows wouldn't be as good, if it hadn't been for Apple.
I'm also critical of other IP laws. If politics decides to extend copyrights, let the copyright holder pay for it with an anual fee. At least here in the Netherlands, the annual maintenance fee for patents increases for each year you keep the patent in force longer. So, that forces the patentee to consider every year whether it is worthwhile to. So, this helps to prevent that monopolies exist longer than justifiable.
So, just the fact that I'm a patent attorney doesn't mean I'm putting my self interest (my company could earn money with writing software patents) first. Thank you.
If it is a significant investment, the programmer has at least his headstart. If it was hard for him, it is hard for another programmer as well. And it is not easy to reverse engineer software (otherwise the Word format compatiblity problems wouldn't exist).
"The patent office". I assume you mean the USPTO. The European Patent Office not only has fairly objective standards but applies them pretty well. It is also receptive to logical arguments. If I get a patent application rejected, I usually can live with the arguments they base their decision on. Also, the EPO considers documents from anywhere in the world. As to the USPTO, the state of the art seems to be US patents mostly.
"they should pass a constructive law guaranteeing freedom of innovation"
I'm a patent attorney, and we'll always try to stretch the law. Don't forget, if you read the European Patent law you'd think that patenting software is impossible. Yet it happens.
Apart from that there is (already) freedom of innovation when it comes to software. The goal of patent law is to distribute knowledge, facilitating others to achieve the result themselves quicker than having to find things out for themselves. The problem with software patents is that they don't help in this respect: It conveys just an idea (I can come up with 5 software "innovation" ideas per evening. Just let me use shitty software like MS Office). The programming is the hard part. The only exception I can think of where software patents contribute above what the skilled programmer (who can think up things to program faster than he can program it) can come up himself, is compression technologies.
There is an apparent correlation, which doesn't mean it is correct. The US has a way larger army. Why not use that as an explanation. It certainly forces countries to accept their way of maintaining their economy. For any theory you throw, I have another: The US is a country of immigrants, apparently people willing to take a risk to get a better future. Europe is where most of these come from. So, relatively less risk takers here.
IP law is a very blunt knife when it comes to stimulating inventions. Essential for some inventions (e.g. medicines), extremely detrimental for others (software: you don't want a word processor where you can have tables and another where you can have pictures, but not both. You certainly don't want rights to be lost after 20 years. If Apple had had full protection for the GUI of the Macintosh, Microsoft would still make DOS. Competition is in the best interest of the consumer. Of course, I mean FAIR competition.).
You'll attract uptown women with cool PowerBooks having mediocre 802.g reception, and in need of a white knight to send out the e-mail. You're of many to regret Apple's market share.
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
1 Gbit Ethernet on top models
Firewire 800
Airport extreme (802.11g) is built in (no additional cost)
My (2) employees have iBooks. Next time I buy them PowerBooks.
Bert
All a manufacturer would have to do is partition the HD (they are really big these days), put Windows on 1 partition and Linux on the second? Dear customer: We took the liberty of adding a couple of thousand worth of software on your computer. If you don't like that, click this program to remove the Linux partition.
That would be a big plus in terms of marketing.
Why don't those manufacture that do bring out Linux laptops this? Can anyone provide evidence that this is not allowe by MS, and if so, isn't that anti-competitor behaviour punishable by law? I'm interested in facts here, please give them (instead of speculation).
Well, it seems to work for 802.11g now, which will continue to work once 802.11n is ratified. So, if it isn't much more expensive, you haven't lost much, do you?
I don't have stats about who sues more, but I do know which of the two has the muscle to do some arm twisting and not having to go to the trouble to sue.
Bert Who dislikes Apple's sometimes overly legal/formal approach (remember the kid who was too young to be entitled to use the free developer tools)?
I once read that Apple were using a Cray to design a computer or something, and Seymore Cray was amused, because he used an Apple to design the next Cray.
We foreigners can only laugh when we hear that a guy at Coca Cola was fired because his wife had bought him a Pepsi.
Bert
Who wonders how hard it would be for Slashdot to detect themselves that if a message doesn't contain HTML it is POT and should be formatted accordingly.
I have started a company and am in the process of putting my precious mission critical data in a MySQL database. RAID 1 is used to prevent loss of data, and apart from that DVDs will be burnt using the superdrive.
My database app is low volume data traffic to/from the db.
Can anyone tell me where MySQL fails when it comes to mission critical stuff? I'm very eager to find out.
I've bought Wacom tablets twice. You are right that they are an excellent hardware company: The software s****, looks like yesteryear, and is such unintuitive that I can't get the darn tablet to work properly.
Vanadium is the chemical used. It is an element. Hence, it is not "manufactured" but isolated from ore.
No, there will still be reliance on fossil fuels. Like there is reliance on fossil fuels to extract petrol. Why do people keep imposing different sets of criteria to the current state on the one hand and an invention/new technology on the other hand? Why would an invention/new technology have to solve ALL problems, instead of just being better overall?
Introducing a space elevator on the moon is a double whammy: Not only is the force of gravity much smaller (as a result of which the line is lighter, and a thinner line is ok), but its length needs to be smaller as well, so, it doesn't have to be that thick to withstand the.
If the space elevator is operated on electricity, and if good electricity storage devices exist, it would be possible to drop something on the moon without costing energy (now you have to burn rocket engines (which require fuel to take from earth), but instead even generate electricity which could be used to get payload from the moon back up to be picked up by a spaceship.
And of course, the line may be thinner because it doesn't have to withstand wind, carry ice etc. So, its way more feasible as a first step
They are better, indeed. In mammals, the bloodvessels are in front of the light sensitive cells (that is, between the pupil and the retina. Stupid design, which led some to believe that god was an engineer.
Well, the only good news is that Microsoft isn't able to reach accuracy 100% themselves, whether it involves exchange of Word documents between PCs, or between Macs and PCs.
Bert Who started his own company and now understands first hand what his former secretary had to endure when battling with that productivity killer. We need competition to get rid of it. Any measure against Microsoft should involve opening the standard.
Why is it so cold down there? I'd expect an eon of heat coming from the inside of the earth dissipating thru the earth surface would have resulted in a nice temperature.
Slashdot Mirror
Hi,
1) As a patent attorney I work for the interest of my client, who wants to secure a patent.
Laws are written with words, and can't deal with each and every particular situation. So, if the arguments for a patent application are rejected, you try it another way. If you secure that patent, the border may have shifted a bit. That's a starting ground for the next discussion.
And it is apparently in human nature to like winning arguments.
2) A law comes with an explanation why it is there. An yes, that is the point. Logic sense tells you the same: If it takes me 100k to develop a product and you can copy mine for 10k, you can sell your product way cheaper than I can. I may go broke, while you get a profit.
Patent law is a necessary evil. But its basics are pretty nice. The general idea is: sharing. Sharing knowledge, and you can't keep the monopoly on the knowledge for ever. It will become the property of the society, so the whole society can benefit.
The (perceived) attitude of your post is interesting. And why judge me for the one click-patent. Firstly, I'm against software patents for several reasons (I mentioned that I could think of an exception, where I would say that indeed an invention is present: compression algorithms). One of them is that they rarely do share info, yet a monopoly is granted. The problem with software is implementing the idea (and getting all the bugs out). So, for that reason software patents should not be granted. Indeed I've written a paper to support open source advocates here in the Netherlands, and attended a meeting on this subject with a "sub" minister of economic affairs being present, in an effort to convince her that patenting software is not a good idea (I think it is detrimental to the economy and my business, because they will slow down progress in fields other than software). There are other factors here too: If some software is available for one platform only (and patents can ensure that), that is something that really can kill platforms. I'd rather have competition. Mac OS X wouldn't be as good as it is (or even exist at all) if Apple had had a patent on the GUI in 1984. And Windows wouldn't be as good, if it hadn't been for Apple.
I'm also critical of other IP laws. If politics decides to extend copyrights, let the copyright holder pay for it with an anual fee. At least here in the Netherlands, the annual maintenance fee for patents increases for each year you keep the patent in force longer. So, that forces the patentee to consider every year whether it is worthwhile to. So, this helps to prevent that monopolies exist longer than justifiable.
So, just the fact that I'm a patent attorney doesn't mean I'm putting my self interest (my company could earn money with writing software patents) first. Thank you.
If it is a significant investment, the programmer has at least his headstart. If it was hard for him, it is hard for another programmer as well. And it is not easy to reverse engineer software (otherwise the Word format compatiblity problems wouldn't exist).
"The patent office". I assume you mean the USPTO. The European Patent Office not only has fairly objective standards but applies them pretty well. It is also receptive to logical arguments. If I get a patent application rejected, I usually can live with the arguments they base their decision on. Also, the EPO considers documents from anywhere in the world. As to the USPTO, the state of the art seems to be US patents mostly.
Bert
"they should pass a constructive law guaranteeing freedom of innovation"
I'm a patent attorney, and we'll always try to stretch the law. Don't forget, if you read the European Patent law you'd think that patenting software is impossible. Yet it happens.
Apart from that there is (already) freedom of innovation when it comes to software. The goal of patent law is to distribute knowledge, facilitating others to achieve the result themselves quicker than having to find things out for themselves. The problem with software patents is that they don't help in this respect: It conveys just an idea (I can come up with 5 software "innovation" ideas per evening. Just let me use shitty software like MS Office). The programming is the hard part. The only exception I can think of where software patents contribute above what the skilled programmer (who can think up things to program faster than he can program it) can come up himself, is compression technologies.
BFN
Bert
There is an apparent correlation, which doesn't mean it is correct. The US has a way larger army. Why not use that as an explanation. It certainly forces countries to accept their way of maintaining their economy. For any theory you throw, I have another: The US is a country of immigrants, apparently people willing to take a risk to get a better future. Europe is where most of these come from. So, relatively less risk takers here.
IP law is a very blunt knife when it comes to stimulating inventions. Essential for some inventions (e.g. medicines), extremely detrimental for others (software: you don't want a word processor where you can have tables and another where you can have pictures, but not both. You certainly don't want rights to be lost after 20 years. If Apple had had full protection for the GUI of the Macintosh, Microsoft would still make DOS. Competition is in the best interest of the consumer. Of course, I mean FAIR competition.).
Bert
IAAPA (I am a patent attorney)
You'll attract uptown women with cool PowerBooks having mediocre 802.g reception, and in need of a white knight to send out the e-mail. You're of many to regret Apple's market share.
Bert
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR 1 Gbit Ethernet on top models Firewire 800 Airport extreme (802.11g) is built in (no additional cost) My (2) employees have iBooks. Next time I buy them PowerBooks. Bert
All a manufacturer would have to do is partition the HD (they are really big these days), put Windows on 1 partition and Linux on the second?
Dear customer: We took the liberty of adding a couple of thousand worth of software on your computer. If you don't like that, click this program to remove the Linux partition.
That would be a big plus in terms of marketing.
Why don't those manufacture that do bring out Linux laptops this? Can anyone provide evidence that this is not allowe by MS, and if so, isn't that anti-competitor behaviour punishable by law? I'm interested in facts here, please give them (instead of speculation).
That anyone could still infringe a patent in those countries that have software patents.
Bert
Well, it seems to work for 802.11g now, which will continue to work once 802.11n is ratified. So, if it isn't much more expensive, you haven't lost much, do you?
Bert
What on earth gave you the impression that we can slashdot only a single URL or so?
Bert
I don't have stats about who sues more, but I do know which of the two has the muscle to do some arm twisting and not having to go to the trouble to sue.
Bert
Who dislikes Apple's sometimes overly legal/formal approach (remember the kid who was too young to be entitled to use the free developer tools)?
I once read that Apple were using a Cray to design a computer or something, and Seymore Cray was amused, because he used an Apple to design the next Cray.
We foreigners can only laugh when we hear that a guy at Coca Cola was fired because his wife had bought him a Pepsi.
Bert
Who wonders how hard it would be for Slashdot to detect themselves that if a message doesn't contain HTML it is POT and should be formatted accordingly.
I use Safari, and my bookmarks are searchable. Nice.
Bert
I have started a company and am in the process of putting my precious mission critical data in a MySQL database. RAID 1 is used to prevent loss of data, and apart from that DVDs will be burnt using the superdrive.
My database app is low volume data traffic to/from the db.
Can anyone tell me where MySQL fails when it comes to mission critical stuff? I'm very eager to find out.
Bert
Dredging the surface of the moon, spoiling its pristine nature for about ever. Great for future space tourists looking for unspoilt place to hike.
Bert
Yikes, it has Power Windows. How about a cross-platform version?
Bert
If you keep the Power Windows glass wall closed, viruses will still sneak in thru one of many leaks.
I've bought Wacom tablets twice. You are right that they are an excellent hardware company: The software s****, looks like yesteryear, and is such unintuitive that I can't get the darn tablet to work properly.
Bert
Vanadium is the chemical used. It is an element. Hence, it is not "manufactured" but isolated from ore.
No, there will still be reliance on fossil fuels. Like there is reliance on fossil fuels to extract petrol. Why do people keep imposing different sets of criteria to the current state on the one hand and an invention/new technology on the other hand? Why would an invention/new technology have to solve ALL problems, instead of just being better overall?
Bert
I don't think you should have introduced FCC in your reply without saying something about FBB first.
Bert
Introducing a space elevator on the moon is a double whammy: Not only is the force of gravity much smaller (as a result of which the line is lighter, and a thinner line is ok), but its length needs to be smaller as well, so, it doesn't have to be that thick to withstand the .
If the space elevator is operated on electricity, and if good electricity storage devices exist, it would be possible to drop something on the moon without costing energy (now you have to burn rocket engines (which require fuel to take from earth), but instead even generate electricity which could be used to get payload from the moon back up to be picked up by a spaceship.
And of course, the line may be thinner because it doesn't have to withstand wind, carry ice etc. So, its way more feasible as a first step
Can someone explain why the sac is on the back of the device? One would expect that if the volume is increased, the back wants to rise.
Bert
They are better, indeed. In mammals, the bloodvessels are in front of the light sensitive cells (that is, between the pupil and the retina. Stupid design, which led some to believe that god was an engineer.
Bert
an mpeg version is appreciated.
Bert
Scroll wheel? Just hit the space bar for the next page.
Bert
Well, the only good news is that Microsoft isn't able to reach accuracy 100% themselves, whether it involves exchange of Word documents between PCs, or between Macs and PCs.
Bert
Who started his own company and now understands first hand what his former secretary had to endure when battling with that productivity killer. We need competition to get rid of it. Any measure against Microsoft should involve opening the standard.
Why is it so cold down there? I'd expect an eon of heat coming from the inside of the earth dissipating thru the earth surface would have resulted in a nice temperature.
Bert