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Developers Beware.

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  • B Brady Kelly

    Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

    B Offline
    B Offline
    BobJanova
    wrote on last edited by
    #6

    :omg: What on earth possessed the patent office, in 2006, to grant that? There is 30 years of prior art, and it's not even obscure!

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    • S Sentenryu

      this sunshine must stop, it's just insane :doh: I'll get one for int's before someone does...

      I'm brazilian and english (well, human languages in general) aren't my best skill, so, sorry by my english. (if you want we can speak in C# or VB.Net =p)

      R Offline
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      Ravi Bhavnani
      wrote on last edited by
      #7

      Sentenryu wrote:

      I'll get one for int's before someone does...

      Great idea!  Just don't use semicolons 'cos I've already patented them. :) /ravi

      My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

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      • B Brady Kelly

        Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

        M Offline
        M Offline
        Mark_Wallace
        wrote on last edited by
        #8

        Primary Examiner: John Breene Secondary Examiner: Cheryl Lewis Attorney: Cochran Freund & Young LLP Take 'em out and shoot 'em.

        I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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        • B Brady Kelly

          Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

          C Offline
          C Offline
          Chris Losinger
          wrote on last edited by
          #9

          they patented the Multiply_linked_list[^]? :(( Wiki:

          In a multiply linked list, each node contains two or more link fields, each field being used to connect the same set of data records in a different order (e.g., by name, by department, by date of birth, etc.). (While doubly linked lists can be seen as special cases of multiply linked list, the fact that the two orders are opposite to each other leads to simpler and more efficient algorithms, so they are usually treated as a separate case.)

          patent drawing #1

          image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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          • B Brady Kelly

            Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

            N Offline
            N Offline
            Nagy Vilmos
            wrote on last edited by
            #10

            Extract:

            Filing date: Sep 26, 2002 Issue date: Apr 11, 2006

            I'm sure I was using linked lists way back in the 1990's, can I sue them?


            Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett

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            • N Nagy Vilmos

              Extract:

              Filing date: Sep 26, 2002 Issue date: Apr 11, 2006

              I'm sure I was using linked lists way back in the 1990's, can I sue them?


              Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett

              S Offline
              S Offline
              Sentenryu
              wrote on last edited by
              #11

              not after the patent has been granted =/

              I'm brazilian and english (well, human languages in general) aren't my best skill, so, sorry by my english. (if you want we can speak in C# or VB.Net =p)

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              • B Brady Kelly

                Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

                D Offline
                D Offline
                Danny Martin
                wrote on last edited by
                #12

                And none of them are owned by Apple? :omg: Slacking... Danny

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                • B Brady Kelly

                  Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

                  R Offline
                  R Offline
                  rahul hegde
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #13

                  Like Generic Medicine which gets manufactured at very cheaper cost, does the Patent expiry to hold for software code/design/concept etc?

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                  • B Brady Kelly

                    Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

                    F Offline
                    F Offline
                    Fran Porretto
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #14

                    Well, someone did file a patent request for the wheelbarrow, back in the early 70s -- and it was granted, and the clown who got it made a pile of money from it. However, software is a weird area in which to seek a profit from such a patent, because to enforce a judgment against a developer, the patent holder would have to compel him to reveal his source code -- and that takes a lot more than an unsupported claim of patent infringement.

                    But on the larger topic, the requirements for a patent grant are less stringent than you might think. Some years ago, a friend tried to patent the flight of stairs. He missed, but not by much!

                    (This message is programming you in ways you cannot detect. Be afraid.)

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                    • B Brady Kelly

                      Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

                      B Offline
                      B Offline
                      bbirajdar
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #15

                      Its going to be doomsday when semi colon will be patented....

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                      • C Chris Losinger

                        they patented the Multiply_linked_list[^]? :(( Wiki:

                        In a multiply linked list, each node contains two or more link fields, each field being used to connect the same set of data records in a different order (e.g., by name, by department, by date of birth, etc.). (While doubly linked lists can be seen as special cases of multiply linked list, the fact that the two orders are opposite to each other leads to simpler and more efficient algorithms, so they are usually treated as a separate case.)

                        patent drawing #1

                        image processing toolkits | batch image processing

                        R Offline
                        R Offline
                        Rangoric
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #16

                        Muds have been doing this for years. It's the primary thing you need to learn to do anything with the guts of DikuMUD based offerings.

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                        • N Nagy Vilmos

                          Extract:

                          Filing date: Sep 26, 2002 Issue date: Apr 11, 2006

                          I'm sure I was using linked lists way back in the 1990's, can I sue them?


                          Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett

                          R Offline
                          R Offline
                          RefugeeFromSlashDot
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #17

                          I was using them back in the 70's on a file system that didn't support indexes.

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                          • R rahul hegde

                            Like Generic Medicine which gets manufactured at very cheaper cost, does the Patent expiry to hold for software code/design/concept etc?

                            B Offline
                            B Offline
                            BarrRobot
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #18

                            But an expired patent is certain proof of prior art.

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                            • B Brady Kelly

                              Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

                              B Offline
                              B Offline
                              Bruce Patin
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #19

                              IBM was using linked lists in OS/360 in the late 1960s, and possibly in other operating systems before that. I would bet that they had already patented it, or thought it was too obvious to patent, or they just didn't do software patents then.

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                              • B Brady Kelly

                                Next time you whip up a linked list, just be sure you aren't infringing on any patents[^].

                                R Offline
                                R Offline
                                RafagaX
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #20

                                What the...?, That's why we see people fighting for squares, black borders and colors nowadays. I'm going to try to patent the wheel, who knows, perhaps if i try it several times i may succed.

                                CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...

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                                • R Ravi Bhavnani

                                  Bogus, man.  In my CS class in 1981 I had to build a linked list using arrays.  What'll they patent next?  Recursion?  (I had to simulate recursion using my own call stack in the same course.) :| Now rounded rectangles... that's a different matter altogether. /ravi

                                  My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

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                                  Gary Wheeler
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #21

                                  Ravi Bhavnani wrote:

                                  I had to build a linked list using arrays

                                  We did the same in my Data Structures class in 1980. In FORTRAN.

                                  Software Zen: delete this;

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                                  • G Gary Wheeler

                                    Ravi Bhavnani wrote:

                                    I had to build a linked list using arrays

                                    We did the same in my Data Structures class in 1980. In FORTRAN.

                                    Software Zen: delete this;

                                    R Offline
                                    R Offline
                                    RugbyLeague
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #22

                                    Luxury, we had to do it on an abacus, but try telling t'kids o' today that and they won't believe you.

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                                    • B BobJanova

                                      :omg: What on earth possessed the patent office, in 2006, to grant that? There is 30 years of prior art, and it's not even obscure!

                                      P Offline
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                                      patbob
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #23

                                      The patent office doesn't think it's their job to judge whether a patent should be granted, only whether all the bureaucracy has been followed. They'll rubber stamp pretty much anything, because they know that whether it actually stands or not, depends on how the court system decides lawsuits surrounding it. Yes, they do some review, but they can't know every nuance of every field.

                                      We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.

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                                      • P patbob

                                        The patent office doesn't think it's their job to judge whether a patent should be granted, only whether all the bureaucracy has been followed. They'll rubber stamp pretty much anything, because they know that whether it actually stands or not, depends on how the court system decides lawsuits surrounding it. Yes, they do some review, but they can't know every nuance of every field.

                                        We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.

                                        T Offline
                                        T Offline
                                        tzych
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #24

                                        the problem with this approach, of course, is that the courts seem to take the attitude that if the patent office issued the patent, they must have known what they were doing. and so overturning even a patent with obvious prior art is an uphill struggle...

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                                        • T tzych

                                          the problem with this approach, of course, is that the courts seem to take the attitude that if the patent office issued the patent, they must have known what they were doing. and so overturning even a patent with obvious prior art is an uphill struggle...

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                                          patbob
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #25

                                          So, what you're saying is that the courts have decided they aren't qualified to evaluate patents either. Seems we need to find people who are qualified. One option is to open all patents to a period of public review prior to being awarded, but there's not much incentive (actually, there's a disincentive) for people to do those reviews. I'm in favor of a different way of finding people who are qualified. And there's an easy source of qualified reviewers that the patent office already has at hand -- the inventors. Just require the inventors to review 10 other patents in their field before theirs can be granted. Give them an incentive for doing a good job -- they don't have to review as many pantents if they can find some prior art that wasn't listed.

                                          We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.

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