> See http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-329645.html?tag=nl.e539 > > Does something as prior art exist ?! :-)
I took a look at the original MS application (downloaded the PDF from the Patent Office) several years ago. there was also quite a bit of discussion at the time on several lists. There appears one primary and major difference between the format described in the patent application and ODF. Whereas ODF is an archive of several files, the patent covers only files that are *single* flat XML files. In essence, it is aimed at what eventually became MS's OXML format. The question of prior art has not yet been addressed, and (as I understand the US laws) could not be addressed until the patent had been granted. The patent does need to be tested in court, but that will be a very expensive exercise. Malte Timmermann's remark about FlatXML is relevant, since if that format contains most of the info in a single flat XML file, there could be a problem. The important thing would be the date that the FlatXML format was first published. If that was prior to the MS application, then that would definitely constitute prior art, and would probably be sufficient to overturn the patent. OTOH, if it was first published after the date of the patent application.... -- Alex Fisher Co-Lead, CD-ROM Project OpenOffice.org Marketing Community Contact Australia/New Zealand http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
