Re: Intellectual Property

[richard bies <bies@domain.elided>]

It's a little more complicated.

Patent Infringement involves duplicating what the claims cover.  It does
not matter how it was figured-out.

The procedure outlined is used to minimize the liklihood of success of an
allegation of theft of a trade secret.  But it is the sort of thing which
serves the consumer.  TI got in trouble with an allegation of theft of the
IBM PC technology (It wasn't that they didn't know how to build a PC
- -- Byte magazine called theirs "The machine that IBM shouold have built"
- -- but for complete compatibility you needed to know the quirks of the IBM
machine).  They knew.  Determined that <they> would not build the clone.
So those who knew left, and founded Compaq.  History.

(It is almost never that the originator of a new idea or device produces
the item most important to consumers -- usually someone else comes close,
but develops a more satisfactory product in the process.  3M may be the
exception.)  

r.m.bies

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