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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Microsoft files for XML patents, says C|Net
 If this is that broad, it will be broadly ignored and there will become a class action suit that winds up in front of the US Supreme Court given means. That is more likely than not. The wolf is threatening the livelihood of the village. The US will not surrender its position in the global software industry for the sake of badly executed patent applications. The patent office executives must know this, but are likely not in a position to reform the system. That means it is a congressional issue and with pressure from the courts brought by pressure from industry, means would meet needs. At this time, feeding the wolf is cost effective but again, the wolf gets up every morning ravenous. Until it becomes blisteringly and monetarily punishing, I don't know what incentive there is to file such suits and against whom. Meanwhile, informed parties must continually and openly debate the issues so that they are known and congeal prior to those actions. The American software industry must take this on although our power does not extend to the Europeans where the patent was filed. If there is to be resistance, it will have to be global. Be aware that trademarks are adjectives that can become names. This is a thorny problem because one way to 'defend' a trademark is to attach it to other common but untrademarked phrases. One could easily have trademarked "HTMLEditor" that way. That is a mess which isn't being noticed as much as the patents. It makes it quite hard to write a decent standard when companies are opportunistic. len From: Bob Wyman [mailto:bob@w...] Perhaps they should trademark their names and declare that these names can only be used in patent claims if the inventor agrees to pay royalties to W3C? Or, perhaps, we can just find a way to get this business of patenting substitution of equivalents done away with. bob wyman [1] http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=6662341 [As always, please be aware that this is *not* an "anti-Microsoft" post. What they are doing, no matter how wrong it may be, is no different from what many others are doing, have done, or seek to do.] 
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