On Sun, Sep 19, 2004 at 07:17:15PM -0500, John Hasler wrote: > Glenn Maynard writes: > > I don't believe that enforcing software patents is a legitimate "legal > > right" that needs to be protected. > > What about hardware patents?
Well, a patent probably doesn't really apply to software at all, but to algorithms in the software. I think that, more generally, patents which can be enforced against software are what we mean when we say "software patents". So, such a patent can probably often be enforced against hardware as well. The distinction isn't important--I consider the "XOR cursor" patent[1] to be bogus, regardless of whether it's being enforced against nested loops, a hardwired circuit board or a big mechanical contraption. As to whether patents specifically targetting hardware are legitimate, I don't know--I'm not in that business, so I havn't formed much of an opinion on them. Those probably aren't relevant here, though. [1] which I only know of from hearsay and have heard expired -- Glenn Maynard
