[wellylug] NZ Software Patents

[Joe Mahoney]

And of course, Grant said it a lot better :-)

On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 3:28 PM, Joe Mahoney<joe at cheerschopper.com> wrote:
>> I can accept that there can be a software patent.
>> Exactly how would that differ from a copyrighted work?
>> Is it a kind of software device?
>
> Patents are about process and function.
>
> eg. Excel & OpenOffice Calc are two different works that do the same
> thing. The have different source code so there is no copyright
> infringement.
>
> If MS were to patent something like 'autofilling a cell based on the
> content of the cell above' and OpenOffice Calc implemented the same
> functionality, then Open Office could potentially be found to infringe
> on the patent and MS could require Sun (or whoever) to either license
> the patent for a fee or remove the functionality.
>
> Joe Mahoney
> http://blog.cheerschopper.com
>