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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: US Patent 6,687,897
 The first set of claims re: multiple scripts in a single file would be invalidated by at least ALL-IN-1, the office automation system that I worked on in the 80's. We held scripts in multiple languages in the "named data" of our "form" files. The "descriptive names" for scripts were typically their names on our menus and the "functional description" would be the "help" texts associated with the functions. All were held in a single file. It is possible that the kids at Microsoft thought they were doing something new. They weren't. ALL-IN-1 dealt with the problem of multiple scripting languages back in the 80's since, as one of the first "integration" products, it needed to be able to control the operation of a very wide variety of tools, each of which had its own command and scripting languages. The simple fact that ALL-IN-1 ran on minicomputers, not PC's, is not relevant. (Note: Many other examples of prior-art can be found. For instance, TECO or Emacs macro packages that held scripts that would be run in sub-proceses. Often, these were implemented in such a way that the scripts' "name" and help text or "functional descriptions" were bound to the scripts...) The claims that depend on XML should be invalidated since they are simply substitutes of equivelants. Under the "Doctrine of Equivalents" one can infringe a patent even when the claims are not literally infringed. Such infringement arises when the differences between two methods are nominal. However, the doctrine should work in reverse. Thus, you should not be able to patent a method when prior art exists which would be held to violate a patent on your method under the doctrine of equivalents. To hold otherwise allows one to patent the application of a method which has already entered into the public domain. This patent, like so many others, is junk. bob wyman -----Original Message----- From: Michael Champion [mailto:mc@x...] Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 6:12 PM To: 'XML DEV' Subject: US Patent 6,687,897 http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3312091 Details at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/ netahtml/search- adv.htm&r=9&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ptxt&S1=Microsoft.ASNM.&OS=AN/ Microsoft&RS=AN/Microsoft " Systems, methods and data structures for encompassing scripts written in one or more scripting languages in a single file. The scripts of a computer system are organized into a single file using Extensible Language Markup (XML). Each script is delimited by a file element and the script's instructions are delimited by a code element within each file element. Other information, such as a name of the script and a functional description of the script may also be included in the file using other XML elements to delimit that information. The language in which a particular script is written is also included within the XML format. When a particular script is executed, the file is parsed to create a list of the script names or of the functional descriptions of the scripts. One or more scripts are selected and the code for those scripts is extracted from the file and executed by the appropriate scripting process. The scripting process that executes a particular script is identified from the scripting extension attribute that is included in the XML format of the file." At very first glance, it appears to be another case of "wrapping common practice in XML tags makes it patentable". Of course, there could be subtleties here that are more innovative than are apparent at first glance, but needless to say it's hard to have any faith that the USPTO would be able to tell the difference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The xml-dev list is sponsored by XML.org <http://www.xml.org>, an initiative of OASIS <http://www.oasis-open.org> The list archives are at http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/ To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list use the subscription manager: <http://lists.xml.org/ob/adm.pl> 
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