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Xref: sserve comp.org.eff.talk:9585 misc.int-property:673 comp.unix.bsd:7059 Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,misc.int-property,alt.suit.att-bsdi,comp.unix.bsd Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!think.com!ames!decwrl!csus.edu!netcom.com!mcgregor From: mcgregor@netcom.com (Scott Mcgregor) Subject: Re: Patents: What they are. What they aren't. Other factors. Message-ID: <1992Oct25.002632.5225@netcom.com> Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) References: <id.X18U.D6J@ferranti.com> <1992Oct20.201929.3183@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <id.R3AU.4ZF@ferranti.com> Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1992 00:26:32 GMT Lines: 35 In article <id.R3AU.4ZF@ferranti.com> peter@ferranti.com (peter da silva) writes: >Now THIS is pretty far out. You're claiming that the new situation (software >patents) explains the preexisting condition (a high rate of innovation). > >There's this little thing called "cause and effect". Effects do not precede >causes. The problem is, as Dan Bernstein has pointed out, software patents go back to at least the 1960s. The landmark Diamond Vs. Diehr case was 1980. According to Greg Aharonian there are already thousands of software patents many from the 70s and early 80s. So this "new" situation isn't so "new". Using Bernstein and Aharonian's examples it is already longer than the lifetime of the early patents. Even if we assumed that the current growth of the software industry WASN'T due to software patents, it does become counter evidence against the claim that software patents uniformly hurt the industry--because clearly the industry has grown much more dramatically than other industries while at the same time as, and even after thousands of the supposedly dangerous patents had been issued. Apparently, from Aharonians list, the only thing NEW about software patents is that there weren't an opponents nor groups (LPF) calling public attention to them until recently. -- Scott L. McGregor mcgregor@netcom.com President tel: 408-985-1824 Prescient Software, Inc. fax: 408-985-1936 3494 Yuba Avenue San Jose, CA 95117-2967