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From: jra@lawday.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (John Ackermann)
Newsgroups: comp.compression
Subject: Re: How do I patent-proof an algorithm?
Message-ID: <118@lawday.DaytonOh.NCR.COM>
Date: 8 Apr 91 18:21:23 GMT
References: <1991Apr9.113446.24904@kcbbs.gen.nz>
Sender: uucp@lawday.DaytonOh.NCR.COM
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Peter_Gutmann@kcbbs.gen.nz (Peter Gutmann) writes:
>  There's been a fair amount of discussion about the patenting of compression 
>algorithms (and all sorts of other algorithms) recently.  Well I've got a  
>related question:  What about anti-patenting something?  Lets say I've  
>developed a new super-duper compression algorithm which compresses twice as  
>well in half the time, which I don't patent - how do I stop others from  
>patenting it?  It has been suggested that I patent it and then let the patent 
>lapse - will this stop anyone else from patenting it, or will it merely  
>invalidate the patent so anyone else can patent it?  What I want to do is find
>a way of making it impossible for *anyone* to "claim" the algorithm and thereb
>restrict others from using it - whats the best (and most bulletproof) way of  
>doing this (preferably with the minimum amount of fuss involved)?  

Publish it, widely and often.  If it's cited in the "prior art" no one
else will be able to claim it as his own.  (In the US, someone could
still apply for a patent, but they'd have to prove that they invented it
before you did.

Now, if you don't want to put the algorithm in the public domain,
there's really nothing you can do other than obtain your own patent and
use it to fend off others... not a simple or inexpensive idea.  Waiting
for the patent to expire won't help, since an expired patent is in the
public domain (apart from the fact that patent terms are quite long...
17 years in the U.S.).

Disclaimer:  I'm a lawyer, but not a patent lawyer.  This answer was
based on a quick discussion with a coworker who does patents, and I may
have missed something in the translation.  Reader emptor.

John R. Ackermann, Jr.        Law Department, NCR Corporation, Dayton, Ohio
(513) 445-2966		      John.Ackermann@daytonoh.ncr.com
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