Re: Multimedia has been patented

[David Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

From: Bernard.A.Galler@um.cc.umich.edu
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 09:33:34 EST
To: farber@central.cis.upenn.edu
Subject: Re: Multimedia has been patented


A comment on the message from Glenn Tenney on the PTO
status with regard to software-related patents.  For one thing,
the situation is just a bit worse than he indicates, since as far
as I know, there are no people (yet) with a BSCS degree there.  The
policy against hiring such people appears to be changing, however,
and there is hope in that regard.


Those of us at the (non-profit) Software Patent Institute in Ann Arbor, MI, are
trying to do something about the lack of access by PTO examiners to
the "journals of the last 5-50 years" by creating a database of just
such material, accessible to the PTO examiners and the general public.
We are also giving lectures to the PTO examiners (and soon the public)
on the kind of software history and techniques that will help them
make decisions on patent applications that will be based on a better
understanding of the nature of software.


You can get more information about the Software Patent Institute by
sending mail to spi@iti.org.