Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!apple!well!nagle
From: nagle@well.sf.ca.us (John Nagle)
Newsgroups: comp.compression
Subject: Re: How do I patent-proof an algorithm?
Message-ID: <24186@well.sf.ca.us>
Date: 14 Apr 91 00:26:14 GMT
References: <1991Apr9.113446.24904@kcbbs.gen.nz>
Lines: 17


     Publication is in theory good enough, but the examiners may not be
up on the literature, so someone else might get a patent, which would
have to be fought in court.  The definitive way to patent-proof something
is to file a Statutory Invention Registration.  This requries drafting
a full patent application and submitting it to the PTO, with a fee of
several hundred dollars.  A summary will be published in the Official
Gazette and it will be indexed as if a patent, so examiners will find it.
You get no monopoly rights, and no one else can either.  The Nolo Press
"Patent it Yourself" gives instructions, although the fees have gone up
since that book last came out.

     Few people bother with this, but if you're planning the distribution
of something likely to become a standard, it might be worth it.

					John Nagle