| Who we are | Organizations | Get Involved! | Helpdesk |
| Weblog | About FLORA | Server project | F.A.Q. |
|
|
|||||||
| ||||||||
Election 2006 (and beyond): Digital Copyright Canada
From: russell_-at-_flora.ottawa.on.ca
Date: 10 Nov 1998 12:00:30 -0500
More postings that put Nortel, Ottawa's favorite Corporate-welfare case,
in a bad light. For those who haven't read it, Nortel is still listed as
one of those in Burma <http://www.web.net/~cfob/comp.html>. Any influence
we as citizens in Ottawa can put on Nortel might actually help.
---
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.org/russell/work/>
CKCU Funding drive, FLORA, Y2K http://www.flora.org/?ckcu
http://news.flora.org/flora.comnet-www/1341 Halloween Document(MS vs *)
http://www.plcom.on.ca/news/top_stories/linux/ WSJ - MS attack plan.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 21:53:47 -0500
From: Gregory Aharonian <srctran@world.std.com>
Reply-To: patent-news@world.std.com
To: patent-news@world.std.com
Subject: PATNEWS: VMEbus-ers complaining about non-patent prior art
!19981110 VMEbus-ers complaining about non-patent prior art
I am constantly pointing out how bad software patents art because of
the PTO's inability to deal with the non-patent prior art problem. But the
problem is there throughout the Electronics section of the PTO, with the
semiconductor and optics communities complaining as well (as measured by
industry editorials). A recent editorial in Electronic Design (10/1/98)
adds the computer hardware people as well, from which I excerpt below.
====
Paper Cuts, Ammonia Fumes & Lawyers
Jeff Child
Computer Systems Editor
Electronic Design, 10/1/98, page 18
[........]
Late this summer, the VMEbus International Trade Association (VITA)
called upon its members to search for prior art (drawings and other
documents) related to a pair of patents that Nortel intends to enforce.
Prior art, in this case, refers to documents dated before the Nortel
patents were issued in 1985. [...................]
In case you haven't heard, there's a major tussle over patents going on
in the bus/board business. Nortel, a formidable player in telecom and
a member of VITA, claims the front-panel implementations that comply with
the IEEE 1101.10 standard require technology for which Nortel holds the
patents. Nortel sent letters to a number of companies with IEEE 1101.10
compliant products, askign them to contact Nortel regarding licensing
requirements. Both front-panel keying and EMI shielding, as specified in
IEEE 1101.10, is an important part of VITA 1.1-1997 (VME64x extensions
to VME64), a proposed ANSI standard.
By calling for prior art, VITA is exploring two questions. First, do
the Nortel patents cover 1101.10-compliant implementations? Second, if
they do, does prior art exist that may not have come to light when the
Nortel patents were issued? While patent examiners have a working
familiarity with patent databases - and access to them - they may have
missed priro art held in the public domain. [...................]
It is too soon to tell what the impact of the Nortel patent situation
will be on the VME business. If forced to pay licensing fees on the
technologies, some of the smaller VME vendors will suffer the most.
CompactPCI board vendors are caught up in this too, because CompactPCI
also makes use of the IEEE 1101.10 front-panel technology.
====================
Increasingly, the public perception is that the PTO and patent bar are
trivializing novelty and inventing by allowing this problem to fester. More
and more, I am seeing comments that the editor uses at the end:
"Now, every time an engineer has a new idea on how to hook
two gates together, he or she has to do a patent search to
make sure no patent has been infringed."
a contempt matched with sarcasm:
"In my career, I never did rise to the level of engineering
management. I wonder - would I rather deal with paper cuts
and the smell of ammonia than with lawyers and patent
disputes? It's a tough call."
In September, at the USENIX Electronic Commerce conference, I hosted a
panel of four lawyers to discuss patent issues. The audience was so
hostile that the conference chairman called me up that next week, and
asked me to apologize to the panelists. PTO management and the patent
bar will not be able to stick their heads in the sand forever to avoid
dealing with the complex problem of non-patent prior art for the
Electonics art. But don't rush until I near retirement :-)
Greg Aharonian
Internet Patent News Service
| Please read the FLORA.org Terms and Conditions before you submit information to FLORA.org | |
Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign(USA) (Canada) |
 FLORA Community Web
(FLORA.ORG) is sponsored by FLORA
Community Consulting (FLORA.CA).
|