The article below indicates that the situation with the patentability of obvious software patents in the US might be changing. This could be why M$ prefers making threats rather than using the courts and risk losing.
http://www.embedded.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=199203516 Didn't someone here point out some time ago that M$ had a patent on the mouse double click? If so, it's probably one of the 235 alleged infringements. And if I remember rightly, Apple took M$ to court for infringement over patents related to the graphics user interface, where M$ pretty much ripped Apple off with W95. And Apple lost. The M$ threats are probably FUD to persuade large corporations like Dell and Samsung to cross-licence the M$ patents. -Graham Petley > Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 18:37:05 +0200 > From: Keith Vassallo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [LINUX.ORG.MT] Microsoft demands royalties for open-source > software > To: [email protected] > > http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=development&articleId=9019238&taxonomyId=11&intsrc=kc_top > > Keith > > Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 19:03:01 +0200 > From: Philip Serracino Inglott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [LINUX.ORG.MT] Microsoft demands royalties for > open-source software > To: Malta Linux User Group - general list <[email protected]> > > You must admire the people though. They strategically plan their > assault, covering themselves, just like a chess player, and then attack > on many fronts simultaneously. These guys should be in the military. > > There is one thing that one needs to keep in mind. That to win a war, > you also need to have the right cause. Call me a fool if you will, but I > think Microsoft's strategic delay, to be able to strike a deadly blow, > might, if taken to far, serve us all too well. It might actually do more > harm to the patent system then to Linux. > > I am eagerly waiting to see each of these patents analysed objectively > ... I wonder if they include a patent for catastrophic system > malfunction (aka Kernel Panic) :-P > > Philip > > Keith Vassallo wrote: > > > http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=development&articleId=9019238&taxonomyId=11&intsrc=kc_top > > > > Keith _______________________________________________ MLUG-list mailing list [email protected] http://mailserv.megabyte.net/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list
