[geeks] Distributed folding patent

[Caleb Shay]

On Tue, 2003-02-18 at 00:57, Gregory Leblanc wrote:
> On Mon, 2003-02-17 at 18:19, geeks-request at sunhelp.org wrote:
> 

<snip>

> 
> Come on, get with the program.  Patents aren't bad, and they don't
> prevent anybody from doing anything in and of themselves.

No patents aren't bad, but they ARE badly thought out and handled by the
USTPO these days.  And no, they don't in and of themselves prevent
anybody from doing anything, but in our sick sue-happy culture the risk
of a lawsuit is enough.


>   Patents only
> give the holder the -right- to prevent others from making, using,
> offering for sale, selling or importing the subject of the patent
> (that's practically a quote from www.uspto.gov).

See above.

>   Not patenting
> something like that, in the current "corporate culture" is just foolish,
> and asking for a lot of hassle (since somebody else will probably come
> up with the same idea, and they'll try to patent it, and then you'll
> have to contest their patent, which means lawyers.  bleach).

Filing the patent to begin with meant lawyers.  It is the current
"corporate culture" that has CAUSED me to be opposed to these types of
patents.

> 
> Sun routinely files for patents on lots of pieces of their technology.
> Are you going to get rid of all of your Sun machines and software
> because of it?  I doubt it.  Sun has even used their patents in court to
> stop folks from "innovating" (see Sun vs Microsoft in the Java case).
> Does this make Sun and Evil company?  Are you going to get rid of all of
> your Sun hardware and software because not only did they file for and
> gain a patent, but enforced it in court?

Well, I don't actually own any Sun hardware or software, but that's
splitting hairs.  The answer is, I don't think all patents are bad.  I
have a strong moral belief that anything that is being used to try to
save lives should not be patentable.  Why?   It goes back to my first
argument.  The potential risk of lawsuit stifles innovation in the
field, since nobody wants to accidently create something that infringes
on the patent.  Even worse, I can't use the patent holders creation as a
base to improve upon.  How are we supposed to gain advancements in
medical science in a reasonable amount of time if nobody can work
together?  Damn it, some day my wife is going to die of cancer.  Does
she have cancer now?  No.  But her mother did, her aunts did, and her
grandmother did.  But nobody knows exactly what it is in her genetic
make-up that causes women in her family to get cancer in their 50s. 
This type of genetic research might figure it out and how to stop it. 
But as far as I'm concerned they've only got 20 years to do it before
I'm likely to lose her, and stupid patents that stifle innovation make
me mad!

<snip>


> 
> Pleas, try not to take that too personally, patents and the lack of
> understanding around them really frustrates me.

Fair enough.  I don't take it personally, but you can probably see my
point, yes?

Caleb

> 	Greg
> 
> [demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type application/pgp-signature which had a name of signature.asc]
> _______________________________________________
> GEEKS:  http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/geeks
-- 
/*---------------------------------------------------------------------
Caleb Shay                                   "UNIX _IS_ user friendly.
Programmer/System Administrator              It's just particular about
Providence, RI                               who its friends are."
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