Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!rochester!daemon
From: @DOUGHNUT.CS.ROCHESTER.EDU:miller@CS.ROCHESTER.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Jonathan (Macintosh Clone for somewhat more than $1000!)
Message-ID: <1989Mar30.192433.20548@cs.rochester.edu>
Date: 31 Mar 89 00:24:33 GMT
Organization: U of Rochester, CS Dept, Rochester, NY
Lines: 24

From: Brad Miller <miller@CS.ROCHESTER.EDU>

    Date: 30 Mar 89 16:12:00 GMT
    From: billkatt@sol.engin.umich.edu (billkatt)

    It has happened.  It is rare, but Apple pulled it off.  I'm am only sure of
    one software patent they hold -- regions.  And as you may know, regions are
    VERY important to the Mac OS.  I have heard that they also hold patents on
    the look of the finder, but I'm not sure.

Apple may have "pulled off" less than you think. It is relatively easy to
get a patent. You just have to convince the patent office what you are
patenting is "patentable" and a search of existing patents doesn't obviously
cover it. Pure bureaucracy. What is difficult is making it stand up in
court, where you have an intelligent adversary proving it isn't patentable
(as seems likely in the case of software), or covered by another patent, or
has some other defect in the wording of the patent. Defending a patent is
very expensive, and takes a long time. It is rarely economically worthwhile
except for cases of true breakthroughs where many followon inventions rely
on the patented material.

----
Brad Miller		U. Rochester Comp Sci Dept.
miller@cs.rochester.edu {...allegra!rochester!miller}