Patent: Whitespace in keywords

[Sean Kelly]

Bob W wrote:
> Just wondering how software patens like this one ...
> 
> http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060089942%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20060089942&RS=DN/20060089942
> 
> .... might affect future development of languages like D - and
> I am certainly not just referring to "whitespace in keywords".

It's best not to research patents, as from what I understand, burden of 
proof is on the patent holder (though generally the winner is the side 
with the largest bank account).  That said, this seems one of the raft 
of patents Microsoft filed regarding C++/CLI, and in fact mentions 
C++/CLI specifically quite a few times in the text.  So I don't think 
it's anything to worry about.  The language would have to be more 
general if they were to use the patent against developers of an 
unrelated language like D.

What bothers me more is that essentially all of the techniques used in 
lock-free programming have been silently patented by Sun, HP, etc, in 
the past few years.  It's gotten so bad that some of the regulars on 
comp.programming.threads have taken to ignoring the patents altogether.

I personally feel that the value of patents has been tarnished so much 
by the tech industry that the whole thing should just be scrapped and 
re-invented.  While patents were once a way to protect the independent 
inventor from big business, they have become a way for businesses to 
protect their own business model from competition, and more generally, 
for independent firms to generate money from out of court settlements. 
Thus they no longer serve to protect innovation but instead stifle it. 
Some businesses may argue that research budgets would be cut if ideas 
could not be patented, but I can't remember the last time I heard of a 
legitimate patent case brought to court.


Sean