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1.  

   1996?

   

   ConceptJunkie, Oct 21st, 2004 @ 6:33pm

   
   

   I was writing code like that in 1986... and I bet you could find examples from 1966!
   
   I've said it before: Some company is going to patent something really basic, like the for loop, and then proceed to hold the entire U.S. economy hostage, and by the time the courts work it all out and people get serious about Patent reform the stock market will be down 3000 points and half the software developers in the country will be out of work.
   
   Just say no to the USPTO rubber stamp.
   
   

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2.  

   Re: 1996?

   

   Kyle, Oct 21st, 2004 @ 7:12pm

   
   

   I know I was maintaining code that did this in 1995 -- and it wasn't new then by a long stretch (dunno if it went as far back as 1986 but I'm there with ya).
   I'm not a patent lawyer by any means, but it seems to me that given how broken the system has become, the ability to challenge patents (pending or otherwise) should be opened up and that might reduce some of the worst abuses.

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3.  

   Hm... patents...

   

   Sniffy McNickles, Oct 22nd, 2004 @ 12:42pm

   
   

   For their next trick, they'll discover this cool thing called "set theory", a revolutionary way to categorize and organize things. While there was this "open source" zealot called Cantor who tooled around with such things in his spare time, Microsoft will be hailed for the embracing and extending this innovation.
   
   And then they'll sue Sybase for infringing on the patent.

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4.  

   unbelievable

   

   zugzug, Oct 23rd, 2004 @ 1:35am

   
   

   Just another example of Microsoft's attempt to stifle innovation, and make a quick buck in the process.
   
   

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