> On 08/12/2009 02:53 AM, Alex Fisher wrote: > >> Cor Nouws wrote: > >> > Hi Jürgen, > >> > > >> > Juergen Schmidt wrote (12-8-2009 7:25) > >> > > >> >> The FLatXML filter is as example part of the SDK since years. I don't > >> >> know exactly and have to check it but i assume it is part since the > >> >> beginning of the SDK. > >> >> [...] > >> > > >> > And that was when? > >> > >> May 2003 (see the old cvs repo) when i have checked in the filter in the > >> SDK. > > > > OK, if my memory serves me right, that was about 2 years before MS > > applied for their patent (there needs to be a proper check, but IIRC they > > applied in 2005 or thereabouts). I'll see if I still have the PDF of the > > application somewhere. > > > > I believe the US Patent office has a bad habit of not checking for, or > > ignoring notifications of, prior art. From the reading I've done, the > > "SOP" is to grant the patent and *then* fight about prior art. > > ... > > The article from the OP contains a link to the MS patent: > > <http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p >=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,571,169.PN.&OS=PN/7,5 >71,169&RS=PN/7,571,169>
OK I followed that and got a PDF of the entire document. At an initial reading, my reaction remains the same as when I first read it in 2003. The file format (and hence the method of interpreting) is *not* the same as either the older .sx* or the newer ODF files. In the case of OO.o, the file is a zip which contains a number of XML (and other) files. These files contain: The content. (content.xml) The styles (styles.xml) Settings (settings.xml) Meta info (meta.xml plus (in a subdirectory) manifest.xml) The file format in Microsoft's patent has all this info in a single XML file. A similar file would be obtained by running (under *nix) $ cat meta.xml styles.xml settings.xml content.xml > newfile.xml It would need a little cleaning up, but essentially you would have a file with a format of the type specified in Microsoft's patent application. IANAL, but IMO this is sufficient difference for there to be no conflict. Of course, I'm looking at it from the POV of Australian law, and I might see if I can find a patent lawyer to look at it free (not likely but one never knows). As for the FlatXML files, that may be a problem, depending on what (and how much) of the needed info is incorporated into the file proper. > > Note the many Sun StarOffice XML references. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] -- 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]
