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Re: Gates Patents Flipping a Light Switch
From: |
T . Max Devlin |
Subject: |
Re: Gates Patents Flipping a Light Switch |
Date: |
Tue, 29 Jun 2004 17:42:04 -0000 |
On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 08:20:41 +0000 (UTC), NOSPAMdave@sebastian9.com
wrote:
>According to Stefaan A Eeckels <tengo@DELETEMEecc.lu>:
>> On Sat, 15 May 2004 16:59:08 -0400
>> Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>>
>> > Are you expecting the laws to be applied differently for different
>> > companies? Patents are something that anyone can take advantage of.
>> > Little guys can use them to keep big guys from walking all over them.
>> > Big guys use them as a way to stay big.
>>
>> Little guys might not be able to afford patents.
>> Does anyone have an idea how much it costs to get
>> a software invention patented?
>
>I attended a talk the other day on patents by the former
>corporate counsel of a software company. He mentioned
>a range of $7K-$60K to get each patent, but noted that
>it was probably going to cost at least $500K to fight or
>defend a patent in court. That's the more significant
>obstacle, but it also works both ways. While it's a
>significant obstacle for the little guy trying to defend
>against a charge of infringement, even Bill Gates can't
>afford to spend $500K swatting every fly that comes along.
>
>So a lot of innocent non-willful infringement is likely
>to slip by under the radar. People are only likely
>to go to court over a patent if one side or the other
>thinks they have millions at stake.
>
>--
>Dave Wallace (Remove NOSPAM from my address to email me)
>It is quite humbling to realize that the storage occupied by the longest
>line from a typical Usenet posting is sufficient to provide a state space
>so vast that all the computation power in the world can not conquer it.
Is your sig a quote, and if so, who is it?