On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 9:14 AM, Robert Dewar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Diego Novillo wrote: >> >> On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 04:49, Steven Bosscher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >> >>> I wonder if GCC's VRP ASSERT_EXPRs would be considered prior art. >> >> Even earlier than that. The assertion mechanism in GCC was taken >> directly from the PLDI'95 Patterson paper. > > Does anyone know if inclusion of something in openly available source > code has been accepted as proper publication for prior art? (it does > not meet the letter, but it does meet the spirit I would say).
The patent examiners i've spoken with in the past (and their supervisors) consider publicly available source code to be prior art. I am too lazy to search federal circuit case law, but my recollection is that their is a case or two on point here saying it is. (They read "printed publication" very broadly to include any document available to the public)
