> >It's difficult for me to see this your way. It seems >to me that they're publishing things that they do, >whether or not they've invented them, so that there's >an easy reference of "prior art" to ensure that their >techniques aren't patented by others. How is this >"IWAR"? How is it "destructive"? Patents aren't >intended to give protection to things that *others* >are already doing; how does this keep "others from >actually doing it" and what is the "it" - inventing? >It seems to me that this is to prevent others from >trying to patent something that they didn't "invent" >first - which means it's not legally patentable >anyway. Could you expound upon your concern? In part the post reads: > > In most industrial foreign countries, a publication of an invention >anywhere in the world serves to bar any person from filing an application >on that same invention after such publication. . . While I am quite certain Xerox uses this properly, it is quite possible to use it improperly. For example, Someone wanting to control the future of a given technology could set up their company (even a dummy) and then publish items for what would be the next logical steps in the area. They could then either slow that development drasticly or hold the ideas for a type of ransom. The "invention" does not have to actually exist. The post goes on to say: >Accordingly, Xerox, like several other large R&D corporations, publishes >on the SUBJECT MATTER of inventions which it MIGHT use in the future but >for which patent protection is not warranted. It does not say these inventions exist. The applications of this technique go far beyond computer chips and photocopies. A hostile country (working behind a front company) could publish what are simply ideas for weaponry -- from laser cannons to biochips. Most weaponry is R&D stuff that comes out of private companies and not from the military or other government entities. They are not going to pursue anything they can't patent or make money on.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Apr 13 2001 - 12:57:41 PDT