Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.misc:972 comp.sys.mac:55932 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!mcgill-vision!snorkelwacker!apple!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ncar!noao!arizona!gerhard From: gerhard@cs.arizona.edu (Gerhard Mehldau) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: software piracy Summary: Software *can* be patented Message-ID: <22647@megaron.cs.arizona.edu> Date: 3 Jul 90 06:14:55 GMT References: <602@dbase.A-T.COM> <26853@bcsaic.UUCP> <8879@potomac.ads.com> <268FB564.638E@intercon.com> Followup-To: poster Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson Lines: 25 In article <268FB564.638E@intercon.com>, kdb@macaw.intercon.com (Kurt Baumann) writes: > Not true. There are patents on software. Apple, AT&T, amoung others hold > patents on particular bits of software. > > I don't know what if any patents are held by MicroSoft, but it is possible > to patent software under certain circumstances. Perhaps a legal type would > like to clarify? I'm not a legal type, but I do recall an article by Paul Goodman (?) in the most recent APDAlog (Summer 90), which covers this subject, and it states that software *is* patentable under certain circumstances. For more details, see the article itself. - Gerhard -- -> Gerhard Mehldau Dept. of Computer Science internet: gerhard@cs.arizona.edu University of Arizona uucp: {cmcl2,noao,uunet}!arizona!gerhard Tucson, AZ 85721, U.S.A. at&t: +1 (602) 621-4632