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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] SIRs should be filed for many concepts.... (was Re: Patents, s
Bob Foster wrote:
> Surely you're not proposing to carpet-bomb the
> patent system with n=(applications*interchangeable
> -technologies) SIRs?
No. Neither SIRs nor patents should be issued if the
claims depend on mere substitution of equivalents. I suggest
that what we need are SIRs that claim broad domains, not
specific ones. For instance, we're currently in the process
of working out the Atom syntax for syndication as a
replacement for RSS. We can now predict with great certainty
that just as there are claims being submitted and granted
that depend on HTML, XML, etc. there will soon be claims made
on specific uses of Atom. So, what we need is a SIR filed on
the concept of "syndication" that blocks these patents. In
the SIR, Atom, RSS, ICE, etc. should only be presented as
examples of how to do the broadly described function that is
syndication. Syndication itself should be described in great
detail and every effort should be made to identify
the "obvious" fact that you can use syndication formats for
just about anything, that there are endless obvious
extensions to these formats, etc. The point would be to craft
the broadest conceivable set of claims and a very detailed
specification. The SIR should also contain a bibliography
ensuring that all published, known materials are identified
to make it easy for anyone to find them in the future. Known
applications, real or anticipated, should be listed as well.
Just as we build up specifications by using mailing
lists, blogs, wikis etc. we should use the same process to
build up the Atom-Syndication-SIR and similar SIRs in all the
other domains that we're innovating in. Every W3C project,
IETF project or GNU effort should either be working on their
SIR of considering if an existing SIR needs to be
supplemented... i.e. We would have the inevitable editor or
group of editors who solicited comments from the net at large
and produced a document that expressed, to the greatest
possible extent, what our hopes and expectations are for the
application domain -- in the most general possible words.
(Note: I do realize that there might be some difficulty in
submitting a SIR that had several hundred "inventors." I'm
sure the lawyers can help work out this problem.) It should
become a mark of a "responsible" and "open" project that they
are preparing a SIR for filing or have already done so.
If we accepted this discipline of writing and filing
SIRs, we would block a vast number of patents while at the
same time produce documents that would themselves be quite
valuable as historical records and as tutorial materials for
people coming to a new domain...
It was good fun to see TBL get his knighthood recently.
Perhaps, the patent system's SIR gives us a way to do the
same on our own... It would be wonderful if we could start
valuing the submission of SIRs in broad domains by referring
to their authors as "Sir"...
bob wyman
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