[Opensim-dev] personal plea on patents

Wed Feb 3 23:44:00 UTC 2010

Sometimes companies submit a patent application just to cover their
rear-ends. They may not even expect to get the patent, but don't want
to be dragged into court later because someone else got a patent - ie.
Microsoft losing the xml case for MS Word 2007.

On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 3:32 PM, Frisby, Adam <adam at deepthink.com.au> wrote:
> Guys, I’ve said this before.
>
>
>
> DO NOT POST PATENTS ON THIS MAILING LIST.
>
> AVOID LOOKING AT THEM IF POSSIBLE.
>
>
>
> Everyone who looks at them is now liable for wilful infringement if they
> submit code around that area after looking at it.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Adam
>
>
>
>
>
> From: opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de
> [mailto:opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de] On Behalf Of Mark Malewski
> Sent: Wednesday, 3 February 2010 1:09 PM
> To: opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
> Subject: Re: [Opensim-dev] personal plea on patents
>
>
>
> What exactly is going on?
>
>
>
> Did someone apply for a patent?  Are ANY patents pending?  If so, please let
> us know what patents are currently pending, so we can at least look them
> over and contest them.
>
>
>
> I've had virtual worlds running since 1991, with 3D shopping malls, online
> e-commerce, etc.
>
>
>
> I'd really like to see if anyone is currently attempting to put a patent
> through, so we can at least work on contesting/disputing the validity of any
> pending patents.  Software patents are a bad idea, and it really hurts the
> creativity/innovation and development of 3D platforms.
>
>
>
> If anyone is aware of ANY pending patents, please let me know and please
> post the pending patent numbers to this forum.  I'd be interested in working
> with legal counsel to dispute the validity of any pending patents, or at
> least begin work on shooting the patents down before they are approved.
>
>
>
> It's much easier to shoot them down (before they get approved), so please
> post any information that you may have about any pending patents.
>
>
>
> Are you referring to the patent that was filed by IBM?
>
>
>
> http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20090300582.pdf
>
>
>
> Is this the patent we are talking about?
>
>
>
> There are only THREE types of patents (Design, Utility, and Plant).  I'm
> assuming that we're talking about "Design" patents, and in order for a
> patent to be "valid" it must be a NEW, or ORIGINAL idea.
>
>
>
> Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, ORIGINAL, and
> ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and
>
>
>
> There is nothing new, and nothing original.  If IBM is looking to use the
> OpenSim Infrastructure as a basis for their patent, or even attempting to
> claim that the things we discuss (or implement/plan/roll out/develop) are
> part of IBM's "design" then it's certainly not new, or original.
>
>
>
> I doubt that the patent application is valid, and I'll need to skim over
> their patent application, and see if we need to work on appealing the patent
> application.
>
>
>
> Companies attempt to file patents (on other people's ideas) simply as a way
> to make money (by litigation) in hopes to stifle innovation, development,
> creativity and an attempt to kill off any competition.
>
>
>
> As far as IBM's patent idea, it doesn't hold any water.  It's not new, and
> it's not original.  I'd developed platforms identical to that as early as
> 1991.  I'd been doing synchronization of offline 3D virtual content for 3D
> shoppings malls since 1991 and developed a platform for the U.S. Army's
> Battlefield Visualization program using synchronization of offline content
> (for 3D Battlefield Visualization) as early as 1994.
>
>
>
> Even civilian projects like Active Worlds had been doing that (as part of
> their browser cache) as early as 1995/1996 (about 5+ years after work that I
> had done).
>
>
>
> So I hardly believe that IBM's silly patent application really holds much
> water.  I'm willing to file an opposition to IBM's patent, if there are any
> other pending patent applications out there, then please let me know.  I'd
> be more than happy to help "nip" this in the butt before some silly greedy
> business manager (or company) attempts to try and file a patent and kill off
> the creativity, innovation, and development of 3D platforms.
>
>
>
> James, I completely agree with your post, and we really do need to work on
> contesting this patent (if we're referring to the pending IBM patent).
>  Prior art and prior work is there.  There is nothing new or unique in IBM's
> pending patent application (if that is what this whole discussion is about).
>  If there are ANY pending patents out there, please post the patent
> application numbers here in this forum, and we'll begin to address the
> issues (legally).
>
>
>
> I'd rather bring this silly patent nonsense to an end now, before this gets
> out of hand.  Looks like IBM is attempting to do a "smash and grab" by
> filling out a silly patent application to try and hinder widespread use, or
> development of advanced 3D platform.
>
>
>
> It seems that managers ride on the coat tails of others and then attempt to
> go for the "get rich quick by grabbing the IP quicker" routine.  This is
> nothing but hogwash, and it's really sad to see companies (and individuals)
> that stoop to this kind of level.
>
>
>
>                 Mark
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 2:05 PM, James Stallings II
> <james.stallings at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Some history may be in order here; I wont drag you through each and every
> phase of virtual world development, but I can tell you that googling
> 'virtual worlds' turns up prior art for almost everything we do (or will do)
> with opensim, dating back to the late 1970s.
>
>
>
> It may not be widely known by either the patent office (do they even
> research such things anymore?), or the 'get rich quick by grabbing the IP
> quicker' set, but the prior art is there.
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
> James
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 1:42 PM, Robert A. Knop Jr. <rknop at pobox.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Feb 03, 2010 at 12:23:40PM -0700, Frank Nichols wrote:
>
> Ultimately, we need to kill software patents for once and for all.
> Alas, chances of that happening soon are slim, so everybody has to be
> aware of the existence of them.
>
> --
> --Rob Knop
>  E-mail:    rknop at pobox.com
>  Home Page: http://www.pobox.com/~rknop/
>  Blog:      http://www.sonic.net/~rknop/blog/
>
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-- 
“The greatest danger in modern technology isn't that machines will
begin to think like people, but that people will begin to think like
machines” Unknown