Which brings to mind this: http://www.bnet.com/2407-14061_23-217992.html?tag=content;col1 Next he'll have a patent on verbally reading an email message using a human that is.
On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 5:55 PM, Trixter aka Bret McDanel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Tue, 2008-08-05 at 13:10 -0400, C. Savinovich wrote: >> How can a concept be trademarked? Isn't it the technical implementation >> (architecture) of the concept that can be trademarked?? > > no. Trademarks cover logos and similar things. Copyright covers > implementations, and patents cover processes or too often enough "vague > ideas that a 3 year old had". > > There is some overlap between the two, think of the 3 circle primary > color image thingy. http://img.tfd.com/wn/CB/660B6-color-circle.gif > > This is not exactly correct, but ... If one circle is copyright, one > trademark, and one patent law, any given thing can fall somewhere on > that, either 1,2 or all 3 spheres. > > With asterisk, the name is trademarked, the code is copyrighted, and > some processes are/were patented, like GSM 6.10 (partially and that > expired last year). > > You cant trademark a concept, you cant patent a name. Because patents > cover a method or process if you write one generic enough, like using a > laser to play with a cat no one else will easily be able to do that. > Seriously, the segway guy has that as one of his "over 100 patents" only > 1 he has is real the rest are just as insane. Now if you switched the > laser out for say a flashlight, you may be able to get away with it. It > depends on how the claims are specifically written. You just need to > change enough so that you have a different process from what the patent > describes. > > And because I know this list I would like to say I AM NOT SPEAKING ABOUT > THE PATENTS VALIDITITY IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE. I just know that if I dont > make some large disclaimer about that it will start a flurry of posts > about how you can just challenge it in court. > > >> Am I wrong? Fine, I am no trademark lawyer. Someone please correct me if >> I am. But to me it just looks like someone who wants to bully its way into >> the market by scaring companies who won't want to spend the legal fees. > > That was the most accurate thing you said so far :) Many companies are > formed for no other reason than to get patents and try to do "nuisance > lawsuits", basically demand small enough amounts of money that its not > cost effective to go to court. RTI with their LCR patent asking only > $20k for example, J2 with their fax->[email,ftp,web,almost everything] > at something like $1/customer, its just easier to pay than fight, and > often cheaper. > > Even if the patent is bogus and you can show that through prior art, or > other means useful for voiding patents, it still costs money to goto > court over it, often a lot of money. This is how SCO is able to demand > $700/cpu for linux licenses and get it, most companies dont want to > spend millions when they could spend a much smaller figure - and SCO > sees millions to pay to their lawyers. > > > -- > Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com Bret McDanel > Belfast +44 28 9099 6461 US +1 516 687 5200 > http://www.trxtel.com the phone company that pays you! > > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- > > AstriCon 2008 - September 22 - 25 Phoenix, Arizona > Register Now: http://www.astricon.net > > asterisk-biz mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz > _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- AstriCon 2008 - September 22 - 25 Phoenix, Arizona Register Now: http://www.astricon.net asterisk-biz mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz
