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From: bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Brian Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Jonathan (Apple patents)
Message-ID: <3767@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Date: 15 Apr 89 09:22:49 GMT
References: <530@umiami.miami.edu> <7423@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <16381@cup.portal.com> <7483@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <6806@saturn.ucsc.edu> <1476@wasatch.UUCP> <1833@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu>
Reply-To: bmartin@uhccux.UUCP (Brian Martin)
Organization: University of Hawaii
Lines: 15

In article <1833@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> rampil@cca.ucsf.edu.UUCP (Ira Rampil) writes:
>Yes Matilda, there are patents.  I know, I saw one.
>It was a patent issued to Bill Atkinson representing Apple.
>The patent covered a new algorithm for handling arbitrary
>rasterized regions.

I was at a seminar on patents and copyrights last night, given by a patent
attorney. According to him, algorithms can't be patented. Apparently,
Merry-Lynch has a patent on a cash accounting "process" which includes software
algorithms and flow diagrams as a part of the patent. He then went on
to talk about using copyrights to protect the "expression" of an idea.
And he said something about protecting microcode with something analogous
to a copyright, designated by an "m" with a circle around it.

-- Brian