15 Jan
2006
15 Jan
'06
9:31 p.m.
On Sun, 2006-01-15 at 16:33 -0500, Lee Revell wrote:
On Sun, 2006-01-15 at 15:23 -0600, Jan Depner wrote:
I'm not entirely sure but there was a case that was mentioned on
Groklaw where the patent holder kept adding minor changes to lengthen
the duration of the patent. Luckily, in that case, he was defeated in
court.
--
Jan 'Evil Twin' Depner
The Fuzzy Dice
http://myweb.cableone.net/eviltwin69/fuzzy.html
"As we enjoy great advantages from the invention of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and
this we should do freely and generously."
Benjamin Franklin, on declining patents offered by the governor of
Pennsylvania for his "Pennsylvania Fireplace", c. 1744
On Sun, 2006-01-15 at 14:55 -0500, Lee Revell
wrote:
Hmm, can they really do that? At least I don't think US patent law
allows it, otherwise the pharmaceutical companies would do the same
thing to block generic drugs.
And if so wouldn't an MP3 implementation based on the original expired
patents be in the clear?
On Sun, 2006-01-15 at 13:48 -0600, Jan Depner
wrote:
Good point, but I think Fraunhofer keeps extending them by adding
minor changes.
I don't have any problem using mp3 (as
demonstrated) but ogg is
superior in reproducing the sound of the original. If it weren't for
exactly what you pointed out I would much prefer using ogg.
This reminds me, when do the MP3 patents expire? Because at that point,
we'll have to switch everyone back to MP3...