Re: FAT patents. Do we need to revive non-US?



On 1/11/06, Jochen Schulz <ml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> But you definitely have to come up with some soft of working
> implementation, be it hard- or software, I agree.

Actually, that requirement was dropped awhile ago. You only have to
roughly describe an implementation. There are actually a lot of
patents that have been issued for "inventions" that won't work. The
USPTO specifically disallows patents on alleged perpetual motion
machines, but has been known in recent years to grant patents on
perpetual motion machines masquerading under different names.
"Zero-point energy" is a particularly popular one.

Rest assured, software isn't the only area in which the US patent
system is somewhat askew.

--
Michael A. Marsh
http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~mmarsh
http://mamarsh.blogspot.com



Relevant Pages

  • Re: Making money from Java
    ... >> perpetual motion machines ... > Wow, Alistair, are you being serious? ... There are many nonsense patents, ...
    (comp.lang.cobol)
  • Re: HOJO Motor
    ... motion" patents. ... Possibly, the USPTO ... In the case of perpetual motion, ... refutations to the accepted laws of nature, ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: Vow of Poverty - Weapons Allowed?
    ... The moment perpetual motion enters the picture the Patents Offices ... supposedly open mind closes like a clam. ... By the basic laws of physics, perpetual motion machines cannot exist. ... as heat exist only in Introduction to Physics classes in university. ...
    (rec.games.frp.dnd)
  • Re: FAT patents. Do we need to revive non-US?
    ... > patents that have been issued for "inventions" that won't work. ... but has been known in recent years to grant patents on ... > perpetual motion machines masquerading under different names. ...
    (Debian-User)
  • Re: Vow of Poverty - Weapons Allowed?
    ... mind when we are examining patents for defects and problems. ... The moment perpetual motion enters the picture the Patents Offices ... Ok I might buy the 'deflects space particles' part but the 'significantly ...
    (rec.games.frp.dnd)