Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!pikes!aspen.craycos.com!rh
From: rh@craycos.com (Robert Herndon)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Patents and Misinformation
Message-ID: <1990Jun28.163043.501@craycos.com>
Date: 28 Jun 90 16:30:43 GMT
Organization: Cray Computer Corporation
Lines: 34


  I have recently seen many articles in this newsgroup,
which, if they weren't dangerous, I would call silly.
Does anyone have a copy of the article posted a few years
ago about patents written by someone who knew?
  Among the more absurd claims made was "If it has been
published, it can't be patented."  This is patently (ugh)
false.  If I recall correctly, someone who invents an
idea and publishes it does have a limited time to apply
for a patent, but publication does not preclude a patent
(at least in the U.S.).  I'd like to see that article
again...
  Also, one should be very careful about EXACTLY what has
been patented.  XOR cursors and RMW on frame buffers seem
like silly patents, but any ingeniousness/limitations in
their particular use may make the patents themselves quite
reasonable.
  For instance, it is generally believed that Bell Labs
first invented and patented the transistor.  This is simply
not true.  Bell Labs did invent and patent the bipolar(?)
SEMICONDUCTOR transistor, which is a very different thing.
The first transistor (that I know of) was invented and
patented by someone named Lilienfeld about 1930, who made
one out of cadmium sulfide and demonstrated its utility
for amplifying electrical signals by building an oscillator
with it.  Unijunction transistors, FETs, MOSFETs, IGFETs,
Gunn diodes, etc., also all have separate patents, even
though they are all for "solid state" devices that amplify
electrical signals.

Robert Herndon
Cray Computer Corp.			rh@craycos.com
1110 Bayfield Dr.			719/540-4240
Colorado Springs, CO		   "Ignore these three words"