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INDEX OF LPF MATERIALS
You can ftp this file from mintaka.lcs.mit.edu:/mitlpf/ai/index.
This file is /home/fsf/rms/lpf/index on rice-chex.ai.mit.edu.
It is maintained by Michael Ernst <mernst@theory.lcs.mit.edu>.
It was last updated on Jan 7, 1992.
This file drawer (i.e., in NE43-427) contains the following folders:
* copyright clippings
* copyright articles
* patent clippings
* patent articles
* patent disclosures
* intellectual property articles
* Pamela Samuelson
* 1989 Lotus protest (clippings)
* 1990 Lotus protest (clippings)
* miscellaneous clippings (i.e., not copyright, patent, or protest)
* OTA (Office of Technology Assessment)
* letters to USPTO
* court cases
* Lotus v. Paperback
* prior art
* ethics and philosophy papers
* European Community (and other foreign)
* miscellaneous: foreign-language, non-printed media (photos, tape recordings)
* proceedings on software protection
"Clippings" report on the news, for instance, about a protest or the
formation of the League, or recent suits that have been filed or settled.
"Articles" are more indepth; they usually appear in magazines and explicate
issues or argue positions.
"Intellectual property articles" are often those which discuss both
copyright and patents.
"Prior art" includes possible prior art for challenging patents
"Letters to USPTO" are in regard to the "Request for Comments for the
Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform"
The patent disclosures and some of the other folders are in order; please
try to keep them that way.
Additional clippings and articles are welcome. Please either file them in
the appropriate file and update this file, or place them in the "New
articles" folder to be filed by someone else; this will help keep this
index up to date.
References to materials we don't have appear at the end of this file.
A list of patents is in patent-list; an index of the items in
look-and-feel.events is in laf-events-index.
===========================================================================
COPYRIGHT CLIPPINGS
===================
MIT software developers field "freedom" campaign: Apple, Lotus "look-and-
feel" suits targeted in ad
by Jane Fitz Simon
The Boston Globe, April 24, 1989, p 25-26
Criticism builds over impact of look-and-feel litigation
by Michael Alexander
ComputerWorld, May 1, 1989
Look but don't touch: software companies battle over intellectual property
rights
by E.C.
Scientific American, Sept. 1989, p 101
Xerox vs. Apple: standard `dashboard' is as issue
by John Markoff
The New York Times, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 1989
Should developers be allowed to protect their work? (Forum followup)
BCS Update, September 1989, p 13
"Look and feel" approach instrumental in finding of infringement of
software copyright
by Joseph S. Iandiorio
The Reflector, p 4
Apple antes up to settle HyperCard copyright violation: customers off
legal
hook most did not know they were on
by Tom Quinlan
MIS Week, V11,#1,Jan 1, 1990
Legal constraints on sharing ideas: some scientists feel caught between
the scientific processand the legal system (the executive computer)
by Peter H. Lewis
New York Times, Sunday, May 7, 1989, p 10
Lotus triumphs in look and feel suit
InfoWorld, July 2, 1990, pp 1ff
Lotus scores copyright win
By Nell Margolis
Computerworld, July 2, 1990, pp 1ff
Kapor on copyright
Information Center, May, 1990, pp 7-8
Chasing copyrights on the legal carousel (MacInTouch)
by Ric Ford and Rick LePage
MacWeek
Software rulings pique "genius"
by Wendy Hower
Boston Business Journal, July 30, 1990, p 6
Mostly sympathetic article
Kapor opposes extending copyright protection to ideas
by Harry F. Rosenthal, Associated Press
The Boston Globe, Thursday, March 8, 1990, p. 51
Lotus trial may clarify copyrights
by Milliam M. Bulkeley
The Wall Street Journal, p. B1
Judge rules in Apple's favor in Xerox suit (Late News)
MacWEEK, V4 #12, 27 March 1990, p. 1
Suits have had surprisingly little effect on software industry (state of
the industry)
by Rachel Parker
October 9, 1989
Software copyright rules increasingly favor large-scale firms, p. 1
Copyright protection can be less than absolute: try patents, p. 3
Patenting computer screen displays, p. 6
Gaston & Snow Enterprise Advisor, V1, January 1989
More of "how to take advantage of the current laws" than anything else.
Copyrights, copywrongs? After Lotus' court victory, debate rages over
software copyrights
by Kenan Woods
Fax, July 31, 1990, V4 #31, pp 1-3
The Lotus case: Judge rules user interface is protected by copyright
by Andy Reinhardt
Byte, September 1990, pp 19-20
Limits Placed on Software Duplication
by Laurence Hooper and Vindu P. Goel
Wall Street Journal, Sep 11, 1990, p B7
Clipping about Allen-Myland's right to duplicate IBM microcode that it had
bought, instead of having to buy new copies.
Software copyright: Solomon wanted
The Economist, September 22, 1990
Lotus litigation sparks corporate resentment: suit viewed as a way to gain
market share (Reaction)
by Barbara Darrow
InfoWorld, September 3, 1990, p 46
Apple [and] the courts wonder: who owns the desktop metaphor? (State of
the industry)
by Rachel Parker
InfoWorld, September 3, 1990, p 48
Apple states a bit more precisely what it claims it owns: not the graphical
uers interface or even the desktop metaphor, but the office implementation
of the desktop metaphor (eg file folders, garbage can).
Programming freedom is new group's objective (On computers)
by Sheldon L. Richman
Washington Times, November 21, 1990
Strongly pro-LPF.
The Death of code: Copyrighting code [sic] could signify the end of
innovation within our industry
by John C. Dvorak
PC Magazine, November 13, 1990, p 81
Strongly pro-LPF.
Lotus litigation sparks corporate resentment: Suit viewed as a way to gain
market share (Reaction)
by Barbara Darrow
Infoworld, September 3, 1990, p 46
Lotus wins $500,000 in copyright settlement
by Lawrence Edelman
Boston Globe, pp 95-96
Settlement prevents Lotus-Paperback case from going to appeals court
Lotus action not in public interest (Letters to the computing editor)
by David G. Hough
San Jose Mercury News, Sunday, November 18, 1990, p 4F
Ashton-Tate losts flagship software's copyright shield
by G. Pascal Zachary and William M. Bulkeley
The Wall Street Journal, Friday, December 14, 1990, p B1
Copyright on dBASE overturned on a technicality: the program was derived
from one in the public domain.
Startup claims legal Mac-clone chip set
by Ron Wilson
Electronic Engineering Times, January 18, 1991, p 10
key quote: ``After the Paperback Software decision, it's very difficult to
throw anything into the clean room that isn't protected,'' [Stern] noted.
To all ARISIA '91 attendees:
by James S. Belfiore
Editorial arguing that copyright holders should be forced to license their
works for low or token sums to non-profit corporations. (Demands for big
royalties are called "intellectual censorship".)
Free for all: Richard Stallman is consumed by the fight to end
copyrighting of software (Technology: On the docket)
by G. Pascal Zachary
The Wall Street Journal, Monday, May 20, 1991, pp R23-R24
More about FSF than LPF.
Apple broadens attack in copyright lawsuit
by Andrew Pollack
New York Times, Friday, May 24, 1991, p D2
Apple requests court to rescind its 1985 liscensing agreement with Microsoft.
Reference on computer software protection: current status
Secretary, Copyright Law Review Committee
July 13, 1990 and July 30, 1990
Call for comments.
Mixed legal signals for software reverse engineering
by Robert Melford
IEEE Software, May 1991, p 106
First sentence: Although the US Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that reverse
engineering is a "fair and honest" means to uncover ideas, recent decisions
in lower cours have penalized software firms for reverse-engineering a
competitor's program...
Electronic age raises copyright issues
CCC Report, Fall/winter 1989, p 2
"Precedents governing the observation and compliance of copyright in the
electronic environment are unclear."
Copyrighting urged for federal software (News)
by Brian Robinson
Electronic Engineering Times, July 29, 1991, p 24
First paragraph: "A top government official has come out in support of
permitting federally produced software to be copyrighted, putting the
administration squarely behind moves to ease transfer of that software to
industry.
Do we need design copyright?
by Robert A. Parker
ID, May/June 1991, pp 55-57
Guarding Pacific Rim intellectual property rights is focus of conference
(Conferences)
by Robert J. Melford
[some IEEE journal?], April 1991, pp 93-94
Judge says copyright protects imaginings
by Roger Cohen
The New York Times, Thursday, August 15, 1991, pp B1, B3
A fictional play about an affair between Thomas Jefferson and slave Sally
Hemings, inspired by a historical account, is found to infringe on the
copyright of a book about the same topic inspired by the same historical
account.
===========================================================================
COPYRIGHT ARTICLES
==================
Xerox suit: big issues
Electronic Engineering Times, Dec. 25, 1989, p 5
Looking at "look and feel"
by Simson Garfinkel
BCS Update, p 20
The role of copyright in the development of interactive video publishing
and new computer software for personal use (Communications and society
forum report)
Report of an Aspen Institute Conference, Queenstown, Maryland, April 26-
28, 1988
by David Bollier
Copyright protection for computer programs: is the sky falling?
by Martin David Goldberg and John F. Burleigh
AIPLA Quarterly Journal, V17, #3, 1989
Computer software and copyright protection: the "structure, sequence, and
organization" and "look and feel" questions
LaST Frontier Conference Report
by Chisum, Dreyfuss, Goldstein, Gorman, Karjala, Kitch, Menell, Raskind,
Reichman, Samuelson
Arizona State University College of Law
Center for the study of law, science, and technology
June 1989
A strange merger of copyright and droit d'auteur: comments on the porpore
European Community directive on software protection
by Herman J. Woltring
10 April 1989
Special Issue: the EC Green Paper on copyright and the challenge to
technology
Computer Law & Practice V5#2, Nov/Dec 1988
Three Common Fallacies in the user interface copyright debate
by Thomas M. S. Hemnes
The Computer Lawyer, V7 #2, February 1990
Abstract:
Both proponents and opponents of copyright protection for the "user
interface" of software commonly assume the truth of the following three
propositions: 1) Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act is an exception to the
general rule that copying is is wrongful; 2) The difficulty and expense of
creating an interface supports its copyrightability; and 3) The existence
of multiple alternative interfaces implies that no one of them is an
unprotected "idea." This paper will demonstrate that each of these
propositions is a fallacy.
Does form follow function? The idea/expression dichotomy in copyright
protection of computer software
by Peter G. Spivak
Summary Statement of Mitchell D. Kapor
Statement of Mitchell D. Kapor
by Mitchell D. Kapor
? OTA advisory board?
? NAS strategic forum on intellectual property
Litigation vs. innovation (Stop bit)
by Mitch Kapor
Byte, September 1990, pp 520
Reverse engineering software: is it safe?
Technology Law Bulletin (Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove), V4 #2, April 1990, p. 1
Very wishy-washy.
Tales of the rich and creative
by Vincent J. Canzoneri, Esquire and Diane T. Chin
BCS Update, April 1989
Supremes to rich: creative wins!
by Vincent J. Canzoneri, Esquire and Susan Barbieri Montgomery, Esquire
BCS Update, January 1990
Taking the stand: the look-and-feel issue examined
PC Magazine, May 26, 1987, pp 155-197
Series of articles: "PC Magazine steps out of character to analyze the
look-and-feel issue."
Seems mostly against look-and-feel protection
Who's stealing America's ideas? (Law and Society)
The Washington Post, Sunday, November 5, 1989
About copyright violations; doesn't bring up anything to think about.
Setting the stage: learing from the past, pp 14-15
Setting the stage: Apple v. Franklin, pp 32-33
History of copyrights, photocopies from a book.
The first 350 years, pp 14-17
Plagiarism reexamined, pp 74-75
History of copyrights, photocopies from a book.
Using software: a guide to the ethical and legal use of software for
members of the academic community
EDUCOM and ADAPSO, 1987
Software Piracy: A Cybernetic Perspective
by Michael E. Marotta
The Pragmatist, April 1988, p 10
Radical viewpoint. Intellectual property is a null concept, restricting
redistribution is immoral, etc.
Against User Interface Copyright
League for Programming Freedom
Readme: the UniForum Canada newsletter V II #04, September 1990, p 8
This is the League position paper.
Against User Interface Copyright
League for Programming Freedom
Prepared by Richard Stallman and Simson Garfinkel
Communications of the ACM, November 1990, V33 #11, pp 15-18
This is the League position paper.
The user interface: copyright? or a right to copy?
by Thomas M. S. Hemnes, Esq. and Vincent J. Canzoneri, Esq.
BCS Update, November 1990, pp 12-15
"It seems virtually certain that copyright protection for interfaces favors
monopolization by the most dominant software companies."
Mosaic Software memos by Arthur Hu
Intellectual protection for user interfaces? (Viewpoint)
by Ben Schneiderman
Communications of the ACM, April 1991, V39 #4, pp 13-14
Argues that user interface copyright is in the public good.
Protecting rights in user interface designs
by Ben Schneiderman
SIGCHI Bulletin, October 1990, V22 #2, pp 18-19
The usual arguments for user interface copyright.
Letter to Senate Subcomitte on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights
from R. Zider
April 24, 1991
Excerpt: This letter is a vote to go slowly and proceed with caution.
Protecting the "look and feel" of computer software (Comments)
by John Pinheiro and Gerard Lacroix
High Technology Law Journal, 1987, V1, pp 411-445
Argues that user interfaces shouldn't be copyrightable, and that the
"plurality of expressions" test provides the best test for the computer
industry.
Federal intellectual property protection for computer software audiovisual
look and feel: the Lanham, Copyright, and Patent Acts (Comment)
by Gregory J. Wrenn
High Technology Law Journal, V4, pp 279-329
Seems pro-user interface copyright. Argues that the best rationale is:
protect all aspects of a work as long as competition is not "unduly
hindered."
Copyright protection for user interfaces in the 90's: of perilous journeys
on the drooping shoulders of giants
by William T. McGrath
February 22, 1991
Echoes Clapes by arguing that copyright protection is entitled for the
creative poetry-like process of writing software.
SAFETY FIRST: between software protection and (re)liability
by Herman J. Woltring
Draft of January 27, 1991
Selected provisions of the copyright law of the United States pertaining to
computer programs
Compiled by David O. Carson
Handed out at USENIX panel in Nashville, 6/91
Rights and wrongs of software
by Dan Charles
New Scientist, #1736, 29 September 1990, pp 44-48
Includes sidebar "A crusade for free software...and a new statue of
liberty" on p 48
blurb: "Computer programs are valuable property but how much should their
creators be rewarded? According to many experts, using laws to protect
every software idea will inhibit the development of better products and
prevent smaller firms from competing with the giants"
===========================================================================
PATENT CLIPPINGS
================
Financial Instruments Protected
by Edmund L. Andrews
The New York Times, Dec 30, 1989, p D1
Ruling on algorithms may help software developers
NY Times News Service
??/10/89
Paint patent battle
Computer Graphics World, Nov. 1989, p 15
on same page with:
Competing font standards
Computer Graphics World, Nov. 1989, p 15
About Adobe publishing specifications of PostScript language format fonts,
so others will no longer be forced to license them from Adobe.
Biotechnology News, many issues of 1988
Software industry in uproar over recent rush of patents
by Lawrence M. Fisher
New York Times, Friday, May 12, 1989, p 1 (dateline May 9)
Protecting microbes and mathematics
by Edmund L. Andrews
The New York Times, Sunday, May 15, 1990, p. 12F
Simplifying A Computing Procedure (Patents)
by Edmund L. Andrews
The New York Times, Saturday, August 4, 1990
A patent is granted to AT&T on a method, based on origami, of allocating
processors to parts of a problem (say, an aerodynamic analysis). Inventor
is Alan Huang.
Investing in patents to fuel suits is curbed
by Wade Lambert and Arthur S. Hayes
The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, May 30, 1990, p. B8
Refac suit against Lotus, Ashton-Tate, Borland, Microsoft, and two others
thrown out because of champerty.
Court strikes down basic patent for Gore-Tex
by Arthur S. Hayes and Jeffrey A. Tannenbaum
The Wall Street Journal, May 16, 1990, p. B2
Patents on equations: some see a danger
by Edmund L. Andrews
The New York Times, Wednesday, February 15, 1990, p D1
7 articles from Nexis library containing "Refac" and "patent" (July 27, 1990)
Refac and patents (letter to the editor)
by Eugene M. Lang, President, Refac
New York Times, January 28, 1990
A "white knight" draws cries of "patent blackmail"
by Edmund L. Andrews
New York Times, January 14, 1990
Intellectual Property
by Esther Dyson, editor and publisher of the newsletter Release 1.0
Forbes, September 18, 1989
Complacency about Apple's lawsuit may be dangerous; Up Front
by William Zachmann
PC Week, August 21, 1989
Reface lays claim to spreadsheet patent; will demand licensing fee of
Lotus, others
by Rachel Parker and Ed Scannell
Infoworld, July 31, 1989
Giving it away is the best revenge
by James Cook
Forbes, April 21, 1986
Article on flashing colon patent
by Kate Carlisle
United Press International, February 24, 1984
On software patents
by Alvy Ray Smith
Byte, September 1990, pp 232
Software patents trouble computer industry
by Simson L. Garfinkel
Questions about originality at heart of software suits
by Simson L. Garfinkel
The Boston Sunday Globe, October 1, 1989, p A6
Free Software Now! (Education/Employment)
by Rick Massimo
Campus Calendar, Sept. 1990, p 12 (also cover illustration)
Sympathetic to GNU project, focusses on patents
The point of patents
The Economist, September 15, 1990, pp 19-20
Tagline: As a way of encouraging innovation, they are becoming
increasingly irrelevant.
The voters outs a key congressman (Patents)
by Edmund L. Andrews
The New York Times, November 17, 1990
Kastenmeier, anti-design-patent head of House Judiciary subcommittee that
handles patents, fails to win reelection
Real time indicator improves CPU efficiency
BNR Matrix, October 1990
Patent on "By inserting three instructions (set a bit, clear a bit, and
jumb back to set a bit again) into the idle loop of a processor, you can
determine whether the CPU is working or idling."
EDS research fax on prior art for HyperCard Applications
Patent nonsense, and what to do about it (Commentary)
ParcPlace Newsletter, Winter 1990, V3 #3, p 8
Includes three-paragraph statement from ParcPlace Systems expressing
support for LPF viewpoint.
An open letter to fellow software developers
Anonymous
The end of Intel's monopoly? (Editorial)
by Fred Lnaga
Byte, January 1991, p 10
About reverse-engineering of the 386.
Why TI and Hyatt are fighting: The patent suit is over money and history
by Robert Bellinger
Electronic Engineering Times, May 6, 1991, #640, pp 1, 57
Do patent laws need reforms?
by Robert Bellinger
Electronic Engineering Times, May 6, 1991, #640, pp 1, 57-58
Bellinger is pro-patent system.
Gould looks back (Professional pipeline)
by Robert Bellinger
Electronic Engineering Times, May 6, 1991, #640, pp 1, 57
About Gordon Gould's fight to be acknowledged holder of four laser patents.
International biotechnology law
by Lloyd R. Day, David M. Madrid, and James R. Batchelder
Upside, April 1991, pp 51-52
key quote: Patent law harmonization would convert America's race to invent
into a race to file.
Patent action on software by A.T.&T.
by John Markoff
The New York Times, pp D1,D5
AT&T sends out threatening letters (about backing store?)
AT&T claims X Window patent rights (news)
by Patricia J. Pane
Infoworld, March 4, 1991, p 8
Inventors discover day in court to protect their patents, profits
by Louis Rukeyser
Rocky Mountain News, Tuesday, March 12, 1991, p 79
Discusses recent increase in patent infringement suits.
AT&T asserts GUI patent
Electronic Engineering Times
1991
Hayes wins modem patent suit
Boardwatch, March 1991, pp 14-15
Request for comments for the advisory commission on patent law reform (notices)
Patent and Trademark Office
Federal Register, Thursday, May 16, 1991, V56 #95, pp 22702-22706
Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform; selection of Advisory Commission
members
Patent and Trademark Office
Federal Register, Thursday, March 7, 1991, V56 #45, p 9667
Letter from Donald E. Killen to Michael Kirk, USPTO, and Senators Lloyd
Bentsen and Phil Gramm
Supports minimal patent protection in WIPO negotiations
Patents gain favor with software firms: Vendors slow to adopt old weapon
(Business, News Analysis)
InfoWorld, August 26, 1991
Quotes Bill Gates as saying that for defensive reasons (because of the
obvious patents being granted) Microsoft must aggressively pursue software
patents. Says Apple has 104 patents, IBM "hundreds", Microsoft 9, Borland
has three pending. Chart says 6500 patents for electronic computers and
data processing systems were applied for in 1990, up from 3200 in 1987.
Code implementing the essence of three data compression algorithms; each is
one page or less in length.
by James A. Woods
Flyer for Second Annual Institute on Patent Protection for Computer
Software,
Flyer for University of Wisconsin La Crosse Distinguished Lecture Series in
Computer Science, October 14, 1991, Richard Stallman
Software floods the patent office
by Torsten Busse
Infoworld, September 30, 1991, pp 39,42,44
Basically anti-patent overview of the software patent debate. Mostly
lifted from position papers, etc. Contains technical errors like "back and
store" for backing store, claims Lotus owns the natural order recalculation
patent, etc.
Book review: The patent paradox
Review of _The patent system and innovative activity during the industrial
revolution, 1750-1852_, by H.I. Dutton.
by Steven Lubarr
Science, Technology, and Human Values, Winter 1986, V11 #1, pp 90-94
Like the book reviewed, provides a summary of various arguments for and
against patent protection and then discusses economic incentives for
invention.
MIT contests AT&T Patent: X Consortium says `backing store' was in use
before AT&T patented it.
by Mitch Wagner
UNIX Today!, September 30, 1991,
Patently obvious (Editorial)
by Steve Weitzner
Eletronic Engineering Times, July 29, 1991, p 25
Against obvious patents. Mostly content-free.
Did Refac ever get its day in court? (Crosstalk (letters))
by James Constant
Eletronic Engineering Times, July 29, 1991, p 25
States that most patent suits are settled by non-technical judges, and not
on the merits of the case, either.
Software patents stifle innovation (Crosstalk (letters))
by Dick Dunn
Eletronic Engineering Times, July 29, 1991, p 25
Good, brief anti-patent letter.
Facing off
by Paul Raulerson
UniReview, September 1991, pp 8-9
Says Unix has always had everything DOS or the Macintosh did, so patent
battles and interface copyrights can have no effect on Unix users. [sic]
===========================================================================
PATENT ARTICLES
===============
The impact of software patents
by Brian Kahin
Educom Review, Winter 1989, pp 28-31
Correspondence
Robert Kastenmeier, Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual
Property, and the Administration of Justice, US House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary (October 18, 1989)
Jeffrey M. Samuels, Acting Commissioner or Patents and Trademarks (November
1, 1989)
Patent law
pp 7-35
portions of introduction to a book or overview journal article
Computer Law Strategist, V8,#1, May 1990, p1, "Xerox fails in novel claims
against Apple: too little substantiation, too late"
The software patent crisis
by Brian Kahin
Technology Review, April, 1990, pp. 53-58
Keep your filthy hands off my hough transform! (Editor's comment)
by Andrew C. Wilson
ESD: The Electronic System Design Magazine, April 1989, p 11
Information property: some intellectual property aspects of the global
information economy
by Joel Reidenberg
Information age, Jan 1988, v10 #1, pp 3-12
Abstract:
Information-intensive products are challenging the traditional protection
mechanisms for intellectual property. Information has become an
international commodity, yet the existing legal framework remains
territorially based. The national regimes, as illustrated by an
examination of the US and French treatment of intellectual property, are
poorly adapted for the needs of information protection. The traditional
legal framework focuses on the tangible aspects of information-intensive
products and gives insufficient attention to the intangible aspects of
information content. The multicharacteristic quality of information and
the need to address rights of disclosure and use lead to an examination of
a value-added or services approach to intellectual property protection. ON
the international level, the GATT might be able to provide a conceptual
breakthrough for intellectual property rights.
Has some info on overseas intellectual property law.
Patent letter suits (Editorial)
by Jonathan Erickson
Dr. Dobb's Journal, March 1990, p 6
on same sheet of paper:
Patented algorithms (Letters)
by Robert S. Bramson, Unisys
Dr. Dobb's Journal, March 1990, p 8
Text:
Dear DDJ,
In the ``Letters'' column of your December 1989 issue, Mark Nelson
discusses U.S. Patent 4,558,302 entitled ``High Speed Data Compression and
Decompression Apparatus and Method.'' The patent was developed by Terry
Welch, a former Unisys employee, and is owned by Unisys. According to Mr.
Nelson, I have been quoted as saying that Unisys will ``license the
algorithm for a one time fee of $20,000.'' As a concession to the modem
industry, Unisys has agreed to license the patent to modem manufacturers
for use in modems conforming to the V42.bis data compression standard
promulgated by CCITT, for a one-time fee of $20,000. This $20,000 license,
however, is not a general license under all applications of our patent but
is limited to the specific application discussed above.
Responding to the second paragraph of Nelson's remarks, Unisys is
actively looking into the possibility that a large number of software
developers may be infringing one or more of our data compression patents.
We have only recently become aware of these potential infringers and the
process of taking action will take some time.
Unisys is happy to accept inquiries from persons interested in acquiring
a license to U.S. Patent 4,558,302. If your readers have any further
questions, they should contact Mr. Edmund Chung of our licensing office, at
313-972-7114.
Robert S. Bramson
Unisys
Blue Bell, Penn.
Computer program patents
compiled by Richard A. Jordan
A 12-page list of patents.
Outline of cases on patenting of software
by James M. Smith
Twelve cases up to 1989.
Policy and pragmatism: the broader issues in the debate on software
patents
by Brian Kahin
Patentable subject matter: mathematical algorithms and computer programs
by Lee E. Barrett
Official Gazetter of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, September 5,
1989, pp 1106 OG 5-12
"New, useful, and nonobvious"
by Steven Lubar
[American Heritage of] Invention and Technology, Spring/Summer 1990, pp 9-16
History of patent law.
Teaser:
An invention must be all three to get a patent, and even then it may have
trouble. The story of two hundred years of U.S. patent law and its
impossible task of defining what is an invention.
Lotus: patent vs. copyright? (editorial)
by Stephen Chow
Boston Globe, Aug 21, 1990
Software Patents
League for Programming Freedom
Doctor Dobb's Journal, November 1990, pp 56-73
This is the League position paper "Against Software Patents"
Patently unfair? The system created to protect the individual inventor may
be hindering innovation (Perspectives)
by Brett Glass
Infoworld, October 27, 1990, pp 56,58,62
(?) Sidebar about the microchip patent granted 20 years after application.
Basic principles of patent protection for computer software (Legally speaking)
by J. Michael Jakes and E. Robert Yoches
Communications of the ACM, August 1989, V32 #8, pp 922-924
Basics, plus "Patents in the field of computer software, while still in
their infancy, will likely be no different from patents in any other field."
The Wright brothers and software invention
by Paul Heckel
Epilogue to: The elements of friendly software design
January 22, 1991
Sybex Computer Books
Megalomaniacal ravings about his huge contribution (he is the HyperCard
patent inventor) and not getting his due; he compares himself favorably to
the Wright brothers.
The coming showdown over software patents: broader protection of
inventors' rights could hurt the industry (Information Processing)
by Evan I. Schwartz, with Michele Galen
Business Week, May 13, 1991, pp 104-105
Patently Obvious (Technical correspondence)
by Marcel Schoppers and Rebecca Schmitt
Communications of the ACM, February 1991, V34 #2, pp 81-82
Proposes rules for patenting of algorithms
Intellectual Property Law
by Robert Dunaway
Upside, April 1991, pp 58-59
Very brief overview.
The "basic proposal" for harmonization of U.S. and worldwide patent laws
submitted by WIPO
by Edward G. Fiorito
The Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, February 1991, V73
#2, pp 88-99
This is an excerpt of the article as published, which runs pp 83--109.
The power of the patent portfolio
by Chuck Boyer
Think, #5, 1990, pp 10-11
blurb: Being a world-clas manufacturer and marketer isn't enough. You
need to own the right to compete. That's why IBM is encouraging more
patenting of inventions.
Protesting software patents (Back end)
anonymous
DEC Professional, p 160
Anonymous letter in John C. Dvorak's column about a patent suit for a dozen
lines of code that control speaker volume by varying the rate at which the
speaker is toggled.
Developments in patent harmonization
by William S. Thompson
February 1991
Patent rights
by Cay S. Hortsmann
Communications of the ACM, May 1991, V34 #5, p 98
Response to a letter; points out that awarding of patents isn't a God-given
act or a law of nature, but one predicated upon social good.
Confessions of a used-program salesman (The Open Channel)
by Will Tracz
Computer, April 1991, p 112
Argues that intellectual property law will prevent software reuse.
Software patents stifle innovation (Crosstalk)
by Dick Dunn
Electronic Engineering Times, May 20, 1991, p 40
A short, well-done letter to the editor.
Experiences prosecuting software related patent applications
by Shelly M. Beckstrand
PCT Research Foundation of the Franklin Pierce Law Center Conference on
Patenting Software, January 16, 1990
Text of a how-to speech.
Report of the Committee on Algorithms and the Law
by George B. Dantzig, Donald Goldfarb, Eugene Lawler, Clyde Monma, and
Stephen M. Robinson (chair)
Optima, June 1991, #33
Special edition of the Mathematical Programming Society newsletter. The
report itself is quite short and strongly opposes algorithm patents. There
are two longer appendices: The case against "software" patents, by Brian
Kahin; and Against software patents, by the League for Programming Freedom.
The patent game: raising the ante (News & Comment)
by Eliot Marshall
Science, 5 July 1991, Vol 253, pp 20-24
Includes sidebars "Computerizing 28 million files" by Eliot Marchall and
"Can electronic property be protected?" by David P. Hamilton
Correspondence among Mike Lawrence, Senator John McCain, and Harry F.
Manbeck, Jr. (Assistant Secretary and Commissioner of Patents and
Trademarks)
October 29, 1990 - February 27, 1991
Whose invention is it anyway? (Science and Technology)
by Gary Slutsker and David C. Churbuck
Forbes, August 19, 1991, pp 114-118
Criticizes overly broad patents and the current pro-patent courtroom stance
as stifling invention.
Rubber Dentures for the Masses
by Carmine Prioli
American Heritage of Invention & Technology, Fall 1991, pp 28-37
Blurb: "Vulcanite made false teeth practical and affordable, and dentists
saw it as a godsend -- until an unscrupulous operator held the entire
profession hostage."
On the complex economics of patent scope
by Robert P. Merges and Richard R. Nelson
Columbia Law Review, May 1990, V90 #4, pp 839-916
Argues that product patents and broad basic patents slow progress.
Contains some good case study information.
Editorial: Patently wrong
Licensing Product Times, Fall 1991, V3 #3, p 2
Argues against larger patent maintenance fees that would make the PTO
self-supporting.
This issue also contains, on page 3, "Radical Revision of the US Patent and
Trademark System", by H. Jay Spiegel, Esq.
Why patents are bad for software
by Simson L. Garfinkel, Richard M. Stallman, and Mitchell Kapor
Issues in Science and Technology, FAll 1991, V8 #1, pp 50-55
One size fits all: US patent laws are out of date and senseless (Innovation)
by Michael Schrage
Boston Sunday Globe, October 27, 1991
Legalizing Intellectual Property (Law & technology)
by Jeff Ubois
Midrange Systems, October 15, 1991, V4 #20, pp 51-52
===========================================================================
PATENT DISCLOSURES
==================
see the file patent-list
===========================================================================
LPF CLIPPINGS
=============
Software Justice League of America
by Denny Atkin
Compute Magazine
===========================================================================
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ARTICLES
==============================
Statement of Anne Wells Branscomb, Esquire before the Subcommittee on
Courts, Intellectual Property, and Administration of Justice, U.S. House of
Representatives
Protecting the crown jewels of the information economy
The legal protection of computer software as an intellectual asset
An overview of policy issues for congressional oversight
November 8, 1989
Time to unshackle U.S. competitive stengths (Essay)
by Richard J. Mahoney
Scientific American, May 1990, p. 136
This is more about getting American industry to be better at marketing and
removing legislative hurdles (such as slow product approval by FDA).
Forms of legal protection (graph)
Protecting trade secrets
First sentence:
This memorandum has been prepared by Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove as a guide
to developing an effective trade secret protection program.
Legal protection of information
by Jeffrey A. Meldman
Weaver, V7 #1, Fall 1989
This article, an attempt at an overview of copyright, patent, and trademark
protection, is remarkably content-free.
Can "Intellectual Property" be protected? An important debate begins (cover)
Change, May/June 1989
This issue includes:
How can "intellectual property" be "protected"? (editorial)
by Harlan Cleveland, pp 10-11
The electronic lumberyard and builders' rights: technology, copyrights,
patents, and academe
by Francis Dummer Fisher, pp 13-21
Are Plato and the parthenon copyrighted?
by Francis Dummer Fisher, p 15
Intellectual property in the information age: issues beyond the copyright law
by Steven W. Gilbert and Peter Lyman, pp 23-28
Software patents: Franchising the information infrastructure
by Brian Kahin, pp 24-25
Rethinking Communications Policy
by D. Linda Garcia, p 28
Who owns creativity? : Property rights in the information age
by Anne W. Branscomb
Technology Review, May/June 1988, pp 38-45
Intellectual property: law comes to the frontier
Release 1.0, 21 August 1989
A serviceable, if overly informal, introduction to law in intellectual
property. Has some good suggestions for improvement, but their attitude is
that everything should be ownable and that they sure hope that companies
choose to place most of these possessions in the public domain or to
license them at low cost.
Digital media and the changing face of intellectual property law
by Pamela Samuelson
Rutgers Comptuer and Technology Law Journal, V16 #2.
From the introduction:
What distinguishes digital media are six characteristics that will make it
difficult for existing categories fo intellectual property law to adjust to
the protection of works in digital form. They are: (1) the ease with
which works in digital form can be replicated, (2) the ease with which they
can be transmitted, (3) the ease with which they can be modified and
manipulated, (4) the equivalence of works in digital form, (5) the
compactness of works in digital form, and (6) the capacity they have for
creating new methods of searching digital space and linking works together.
Computer Software and Intellectual Property---Background Paper
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment
OTA-BP-CIT-61
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, March 1990
Good background paper on the issues at stake in the debate over copyright
and patent protection for software.
Office of Technology Assessment brochure
January 1990
OTA Project Proposal ``Staying on Top: The Challenges of Technological
Change and Global Competition in Protecting Intellectual Property''
April 18, 1990
This study has be renamed to "Computer Software and Intellectual Property:
Meeting the Challenges of Technological Change and Global Competition"
Staff Paper on Intellectual-Property Protection for Computer Software
OTA Communication and Information Technologies Program
November 2, 1989
Testimony before oversight hearing on Computers and Intellectual Property
(U.S. Congress Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts,
Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice)
November 8, 1989
Statements of
Robert Kastenmeier (Chairman, introductory remarks)
Milton Wessel, Arizona State University
Pamela Samuelson, Emory University
Leo Raskind, University of Minnesota
Steven Gilbert, EDUCOM
Ronald Reiling, CBEMA
Thomas Lemberg, Lotus (his statement mostly concerned piracy, not imitation)
Intellectual property concepts
by Richard A. Jordan
Outline-style overview; sketchy, but useful.
Join the League for Programming Freedom (Commentary)
by Simson L. Garfinkel
BCS Update, October 1990
Rights and wrongs of software
by Dan Charles
New Scientist, 29 September 1990, pp 44-48
This is the cover story, "Whose software is it anyway?"
Argues the evils of overprotection.
Abstract: "Computer programs are valuable property but how much should
their creators be rewarded? According to many experts, using laws to
protect every software idea will inhibit the development of better products
and prevent smaller firms from competing with giants."
Programming freedom at risk: Trends in software patents and copyrights
threaten programmers' tools, ideas
by Jason Levitt
Unix Today!, September 17, 1990, pp 50-51
History of intellectual property protection of software. Strongly pro-LPF.
Keeper of the faith: Richard Stallman is leading a crusade to preserve
your porgramming freedom
by Jay Fraser
EDN, October 1, 1990, pp 174-180
Power to the programer
by Nathan Cobb
The Boston Globe Magazine, October 21, 1990, pp 16-17,39-48
About Richard Stallman and his work for/with LPF
Intellectual property protection in the personal computer industry: does
the conduct of IBM and Lotus constitute a violation of antitrust laws?
by Mary Kathryn Holt
In search of equillibrium: intellectual property, antitrust, and the
personal computer industry
by Mary Kathryn Holt
Software Law Journal, Fall 1988, V II #4, pp 575-595
Who needs copyrights? Who needs patents?
by Peter H. Salaus
README, Spring 1991, V6 #1, pp 1-16
Essentially the "Against user interface copyright" and "Against software
patents" LPF handouts.
Programs to the people
by Simson L. Garfinkel
Technology Review, March 1991, pp 53-60
Focusses on Stallman and FSF
Intellectual property issues in software
by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research
Council, May 1991
This 111-page booklet is careful not to take a stand and to speak only in
generalities.
An introduction to the law and economics of intellectual property
by Stanley M. Besen and Leo J. Raskind
Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1991, V5 #1, pp 3-27
Hearing on computers and intellectual property before the Subcommittee on
Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice, Committee
of the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives.
Statement by Jeffrey M. Samuels, Acting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
Only pages 1, 14, 26
He defends patent protection for computer processes and copyright
protection for the expression in interfaces.
Informal statement posted on Invention Factory BBS in response to a patent
attorney's statement there
by Charles B. Kramer, Esq.
June 16, 1991
Argues that trade secret is more useful, and patent less useful, than
widely recognized.
Patents and copyrights: protecting intellectual property (special report)
by Joseph S. Iandiorio
Microwave Journal, April 1991, pp 30-39
A pro-broad-protection and how-to article by a lawyer.
===========================================================================
PAMELA SAMUELSON
================
What the user interface field thinks about the "look and feel" lawsuits
by Pamela Samuelson and Robert J. Glushko
Is copyright law steering the right course?
by Pamela Samuelson
IEEE Software, September 1988, pp 78-86
Reverse-engineering someone else's software: is it legal?
by Pamela Samuelson
IEEE Software, January 1990, pp 90-96
Presents arguments of both sides. Her legal opinion is that reverse
engineering is legal.
Interpreting reverse-engineering law (Software letters)
by Victor Siber and Pamela Samuelson
IEEE Software, July 1990, pp 4ff
Siber, IBM's Corporate Counsel, believes reverse engineering is not legal
under current law, and rebuts a Jan 1990 article by Samuelson. Samuelson
then responds to Siber.
Reflections on the state of american software copyright law and the perils
of teaching it
by Pamela Samuelson
Why the look and feel of software user interfaces should not be protected
by copyright law
by Pamela Samuelson
Communications of the ACM, v32,#5, May 1989, pp 563-572
Survey on the look and feel lawsuits (Legally Speaking)
by Pamela Samuelson and Robert J. Glushko
Communications of the ACM, May 1990, v33 #5, pp 483-487
Interface specifications, compatibility, and intellectual property law
(Legally Speaking)
by Pamela Samuelson
Communications of the ACM, Feb. 1990, v33 #2, pp 111-114
Protecting user interfaces through copyright: the debate
by Pamela Samuelson
ACM CHI'89 Proceedings, May 1989, pp 97-103
protecting user interfaces through copyright (panel); Pamela
Samuelson, Jack E. Brown, Thomas M. S. Hemnes, and Micheal E. Lesk;
ACM CHI'89 Proceedings, May 1989, pp 104
Should program algorithms be patented? (Legally Speaking)
by Pamela Samuelson
Communications of the ACM, V33 #8, August 1990, pp 23-27
How to interpret the Lotus decision (and how not to) (Legally Speaking)
by Pamela Samuelson
Draft.
How to interpret the Lotus decision (and how not to) (Legally speaking)
by Pamela Samuelson
Communications of the ACM, November 1990, V33 #11, pp 27-33
The patentability of computer programs revisited
by Pamela Samuelson
214 pages
Benson revisited: the case against patent protection for algorithms and
other computer progra-related inventions
by Pamela Samuelson
Emory Law Journal, Fall 1990, V39 #4, pp 1025-1154
Equal Justice (ACM Forum)
by Michael Gemignani and Pamela Samuelson
Communications of the ACM, April 1991, V34 #4, pp 15-18
Gemignani calls Keeton's decision "the clearest and most thoughtful opinion
concerning software copyrights I have yet come across." Samuelson rebuts.
Is information property? (Legally speaking)
by Pamela Samuelson
Communications of the ACM, March 1991, V34 #3, pp15-18
Based on the Neidorf trial over 911 information "theft".
Digital media and the law (Legally speaking)
by Pamela Samuelson
Communications of the ACM, October 1991, V34 #10, pp23-28
Lists six ways in which digital media is different from other types and
will require current laws to be rethought or rewritten.
===========================================================================
1989 LOTUS PROTEST (CLIPPINGS)
==============================
Lotus Corp targeted by picketers over "look and feel" copyright issue
by Anthony Flint
The Boston Globe, front page of business section
"Power to programmers," picketers tell Lotus
PC/Computing
AI Researchers Announce Boycott of litigious computer companies
by Barbara Darrow
Tandy claims competitors infringed patents on certain laptop displays
by Patricia J. Pane
Infoworld
Pickets want software design freedom
by Jeffrey Krasner
pp 58,62
The Berkshire Eagle, Thursday, May 25, 1989
photo and caption on page 1
Peace, love, not look-and-feel: MIT scientists lead 15-strong
anticopyright protest on Lotus premises
by Michael Alexander
ComputerWorld
Computer scientists, watch out!
Ad in The Tech, Friday, April 14, 1989, p 7
by Marvin Minsky, Richard Stallman, Gerald Sussman
Scientists oppose software lawsuits: 150 picket outside Lotus headquarters
San Francisco Examiner (Associated Press), Thursday, May 25, 1989, p D4
Programmers protest copyright litigation: Picketers march on Lotus; Apple
is next
by June Gross
Taking it to the street... (Monitor)
PC Week, May 22, 1989, Business section
Get out those picket signs (Micro Bits)
by Michael Alexander
ComputerWorld
200 march against Lotus lawsuits
InfoWorld, May 29, 1989, p 5
Programmers and users picket Lotus, protesting user-interface copyright
litigation
May 24, 1989
League for Programming Freedom press release
Grass-roots movement protests software suits
by June Gross
pp 3,13
===========================================================================
1990 LOTUS PROTEST (CLIPPINGS)
==============================
Programmers and Users Protest Lotus Lawsuits
League for Programming Freedom press release
August 6, 1990
Software lawsuits protested (photo and caption)
Lewsiton, Maine Sun-Journal, Friday, August 3, 1990, p. 19
Marching on Lotus (Top of the week)
Infoweek, July 23, 1990, p 14
March on Lotus (Top of the week)
Infoweek, August 6, 1990, p 16
Software protest (photo with caption)
Boston Globe
Computing the cost of copyright: programmers fight `look and feel' lawsuits
by John Schwartz and Debra Rosenberg
Newsweek, August 27, 1990, p. 52
Freedom chant (Newstrack)
Communications of the ACM, October 1990, V33 #10, p 9
Programmers and users protest against Lotus lawsuits
by Richard Stallman
Managing Intellectual Property, March 1991, #6, pp 36-39
Carries a preceding editorial disclaimer that these views aren't widely
held and may be found offensive. Includes "Lotus disinformation:
forewarned is forearmed".
===========================================================================
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
==================
European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) packet,
including position papers from both sides, journal articles, etc.
This organization's views seem closely aligned with those of the LPF.
Software patents: law of the jungle
The Economist, August 18 1990, pp 59-60
Shows up as 'Why Software Patents are a Bad Idea' in the table of contents
Soft in the head
The Economist, March 10, 1990, p 15
Lotus may be fair game for European copycats
by Wendy Hower
Boston Business Journal, November 5, 1990, p 3
Discusses EC proposals
Economic effects of the Australian patent system: A commissioned report to
the industrial property advisory committee
T. D. Mandeville, D. M. Lamberton, and E. J. Bishop, Department of
Economics, University of Queensland,
Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1982
"No copyright in original idea", court rules
by Sallyanne Hapke
Pacific Computer Weekly, Friday 21 September 1990, pp 3-4
Proposal for a Council Directive on the legal protection of computer programs
Official Journal of the European Communities, April 12, 1989, #C91, pp 4-16
Amended proposal for a Council Directive on the legal protection of
computer programs
Official Journal of the European Communities, December 20, 1990, #C320 V33,
pp 22-30
This is the final version.
Report fo the Diplomatic Conference for the Conclusion of a Treaty
Supplementing the Paris Convention as far as Patents are Concerned
Final Session, June 3 to 21, The Hague
The draft treaty is WIPO docuemnt PLT/DC/3 of December 21, 1990
===========================================================================
WIPO (WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION)
===============================================
Diplomatic conference for the conclusion of a treaty supplementing the
Paris convention as far as patents are concerned: The "Basic Proposal" for
the treaty and the regulations
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
The Hague, June 3 to 28, 1991
Docutment PL/DC/3
Diplomatic conference for the conclusion of a treaty supplementing the
Paris convention as far as patents are concerned: Notes on the Basic
proposal for the treaty and regulations
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
The Hague, June 3 to 28, 1991
Docutment PL/DC/4
Diplomatic conference for the conclusion of a treaty supplementing the
Paris convention as far as patents are concerned: History of the
preparations of the patent law treaty
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
The Hague, June 3 to 28, 1991
Docutment PL/DC/5
===========================================================================
MISCELLANEOUS CLIPPINGS
=======================
Common ground: two foundations in search of an integrated work world
by Robert Dietrich
FAX, August 1, 1989, pp 3-5
Report on FSF and OSF
bundeled with:
Too much control stifles competition
by Stan Kugell
FAX, August 1, 1989, p 5
Sources for the software intellectual protection issue
by Randall Davis
Navigating the public domain
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Communications Forum
April 3, 1986
Douglas Chamberlain, Richard Stallman, Stanley Doherty
Strategy Plan (Newstrack)
Communications of the ACM, July 1990, V33 #7, p 12
Text:
The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) is conducting a study to
determine what the government can do to maintain the U.S. lead in the
software market. The OTA is exploring the technological changes and trends
in software and computer technologies that Congress must confront in
adapting our current system of intellectural property protection to meet
the demands of the future. The study, which began in May, is entitled
"Staying on Top: The Challenges of Tehcnological Cange and Global
Competition in Protecting Intellectual Property." The agency expects to
deliver its findings to the Technology Assessment Board by October 1991,
and publish those results by February 1992.
When imitation isn't the sincerest form of flattery
by Edmund L. Andrews
New York Times, 8/5/90, p 20E
Article on new laws to provide protection on mechanical designs
Dispute brews over right to charge for stock quotes
by William Power
The Wall Street Journal, April 5, 1990, p. C1
Legal protection of software and computer records
by Jeffrey A. Meldman
Contains lots of tables about computer crime
Ferrari wins trademark suit agains a Tennessee kit-car manufacturer
newspaper clipping
"... the reproductions ... infringe on Ferrarri's trademark rights on the
designs and appearances of the cars."
The League for Programming Freedom, Inc. Articles of Organization
The League for Programming Freedom, Inc. By-Laws
Letter from David Charles Masselli to Richard Stallman about an OTA
Workshop on Computer Software and Intellectual Property
Single issue politics: how to
by Aubrey Jaffer
email message from jaffer@zurich.ai.mit.edu to rms@ai.mit.edu, 23 Aug 90
Nurturing creativity: the MacArthur fellowships
by James Walsh
Technology Review, August/Septermber 1990, pp MIT19-MIT24
Doesn't include Stallman in the list; maybe he hadn't received his yet.
Intellectual property rights of Media Labratory Sponsors
Effective 11/30/88
Pages 2-5; page 2 starts with item a. Was there a page 1?
Interview on "Music Mouse", folk music, copyright, etc
Ear Magazine, pp 17-18
The National Inventors Hall of Fame brochure
Department of Defense Software Master Plan (preliminary draft), February 9,
1990, Volume I: Plan of Action, Volume 2: Background (Annexes A0g)
Packet of material on design protection. Includes:
H.R. 902
H.R. 3017
H.R. 3499
Opening remarks of Robert W. Kastenmeier for hearing on H.R. 902, H.R.
3017, H.R. 3499 (May 3 and June 20, 1990
Talking points on design protection (unbylined, March 31, 1990)
===========================================================================
OTA (OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT)
=====================================
Materials regarding December 7, 1990 workshop: Computer Software and
Intellectual Property: Meeting the Challenges of Technological Change and
Global Competition
A bill of rights for electronic citizens
by Frank Connolly, Steve W. Gilbert, Peter Lyman
March 13, 1990
Written for OTA by an outside contractor.
The wealth of nations: can classical economics guide radical technology?
by Steven W. Gilbert, Frank Connolly, Peter Lyman, Michael Merrill, Rena
Lederman
November 21, 1990
First discussion draft of report for OTA by an outside contractor.
The wealth of nations: can classical economics guide radical technology?
by Steven W. Gilbert, Frank Connolly
March 22, 1990
Second discussion draft of report for OTA by an outside contractor.
Annual report to the Congress, fiscal year 1990
Office of Technology Assessment
Draft of OTA report on "Computer Software and Intellectual Property"
As of August 26, 1991. This is hundreds of pages long.
Also response of Michael Ernst, external reviewer, to the draft.
===========================================================================
LETTERS TO USPTO
================
from Donald E. Killen, President, Greenleaf Software
from Michael D. Ernst, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
===========================================================================
COURT CASES
===========
Whelan Associates, Inc. v. Jaslow Dental Laboratory
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Aug. 4, 1986
797 Federal Reporter, 2d series, pp 1222-1249
Broderbund Software, Inc., and Pixellite Software v. Unison World, Inc.
Opinion and Order
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
October 8, 1986
Diamond v. Diehr
United States Supreme Court
March 3, 1981
Telemarketing Resources v. Symantec Corp
12 USPQ 2d, pp 1991-1996
Sept. 6, 1989
Xerox Corporation v. Apple Computer, Inc.
Complaint for declaratory judgment; to strike registrations; unfair
competition; and unjust enrichment.
December 5, 1989
Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Argued March 17, 1983
Decided Aug. 30, 1983
Rehearing and Rehearing In Banc Denied Sept. 23, 1983
714 Federal Reporter, 2d Series, pp 1242-1255
Johnson Controls, Inc. v. Phoenix Control Systems, Inc.; Rodney Larsen and
Iren Larsen; and John Schratz and Martha Schratz
Manufacturers TEchnologies Inc. v. Cams Inc.
Decided January 30, 1989 by Daly, C.J., District Court, D. Conneticut
10 USPQ2d, pp 1321-1338
Lasercomb America Inc. v. Reynolds
Decided August 16, 1990
15 USPQ2d, pp 1846-1856
Seems, on a quick skimming, to be a standard case: Defendants copied
licensed source code and marketed it as their own product.
===========================================================================
LOTUS V. PAPERBACK
==================
Lotus Development Corporation v. Paperback Software International and
Stephenson Software, Limited.
Opinion of District Judge Keeton
United States District Court, District of Massachusetts
June 28, 1990
===========================================================================
PROIR ART
=========
For Heckel's patent, from Donna Love
For REFAC patent, from Tom Epperly
For byte order patent, "A network independent file transfer protocol" and
"FITS: a flexible image transport system"
For byte order patent, "Evolution ofhte Ethernet local computer network"
===========================================================================
ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY PAPERS
============================
Computers and moral responsibility: a framework for an ethical analysis
by John Ladd
from The Information Web: Ethical and Social Implications of Computer
Networking
edited by Carol C. Gould
pp 207-227
Ethical issues in information technology
by John Ladd
Conference of Society for Social Studies of Science, Nov 15-18, 1989
Ethics and the computer revolution
by John Ladd
1984
Moral issues involved in protecting software as intellectual property
by Natalie Dandekar
Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing (DIAC-90) conference,
July 28, 1990, Cambridge, Ma
pp 219-235
Review:
This spends most of its time discussing how the effects of computer
technology help highly developed nations and hurt less developed countries.
Justifying intellectual property
by Edwin C. Hettinger
Philosophy & Public Affairs, Winter 1989, V18 #1
Argues that justifications of intellectual property must come from social
utility, and that copyrights are easier justified than patents or trade
secrets.
The more lawsuits the better and other American notions (Rule of law)
by L. Gordon Crovitz
The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, April 7, 1991, p A15
===========================================================================
MISCELLANEOUS (non-print or foreign)
=============
The Microcomputer Newstapes
Interview with Richard Stallman at start of side 2
1989, Newstapes, Inc.
Photos of May 24, 1989 demonstration at Lotus
Protestdemonstratie bij Lotus tegen Rechtzaken
9/6/89, p 14
Russian article with picture of Richard Stallman
Article plus picture of Richard Stallman with a megaphone
PC Week, Japanese edition, August 15 & 22, 1990, V1 #12.
Profetan
by Liv Str/omme
Unix-World Norge (or is this ComputerWorld Norge?) (Norway)
August 16, 1991
Article plus picture of Richard Stallman.
Videocassette:
Protecting the freedom to write software: the new software
monopolies, and what we can do about them
by Richard Stallman
Arizona Computer Science Colloquium, Thursday, October 3, 1991
Videocassette:
Reclaiming the freedom to write software
by Richard Stallman
Talk at Xerox PARC, Feb 14, 1991
===========================================================================
PROCEEDINGS ON SOFTWARE PROTECTION
==================================
Cases & materials for LaST frontier conference on software protection
February 13-14, 1989
Abbreviated table of contents:
I. Important cases and administrative materials:
Program structure:
Whelan, Inc. v. Jaslow Dental Laboratory, Inc.
Plains Cotton Cooperative Ass'n v. Good pasture Computer Service, Inc.
SAS Institute, Inc. v. S & H Computer Systems, Inc.
Q-co Indus v. Hoffman
Pearl Systems, Inc. v. Competition Electronics, Inc.
User interface protection:
Digital Communications Assocs. v. Softklone Distributing Corp.
Broderbund Software, Inc. v. Unison World, Inc.
Synercom Technology, Inc. v. University Computing Co.
Single Registration for Programs and Screen Displays, Copyright Office
Notice of Registration decision
Lotus Developemnt Corp v. Paperback Software Int'l, amended complaint
Apple v. Microsoft, complaint
Cases raising issues of compatibility and hardware constraints:
Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.
NEC Corp. v. Intel Corp.
E.F. Johnson Co. v. Uniden Corp. of America
II. Written presentations to conference:
Michael Gemignani, The Misapplication of Patent Infringement Criteria to
Software
Richard Gruner, Copyright Protection for Expert Systems
Letter from William J. Keating
Letter from John M. Kernochan
III. Recent law articles not yet in print:
Laurie and Keefauver, Protection fo Computer Software
Menell, An Analysis of the Scope of Protection for Application Programs
Reichman, Implications of Copyright Protection for Commercialized
University Research: The Case for Computer Software
Samuelson, Why the "Look and Feel" of Software User Interfaces Should Not
Be Protected By Copyright
Yen, Did Pufnstuf Blow Out the First Amendment Candle?: A Chilling Look
at the Idea/Expression Dichotomy and Copyright in a Work's "Total
Concept and Feel"
Deryfuss, New Information Products: A Challenge to Intellectual Property
Theory (page 571; this has been omitted from the contents)
IV. Relevant articles from nonlegal journals:
Brooks, No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering
Pool, Whither Electronic Copyright
V. Selected bibliography of legal commentary.
International symposium on legal protection of computer software:
proceedings
Oct 28-30, 1987
Second international symposium on legal protection of computer software:
proceedings
Nov 7-8, 1989
Theme: legal protection of interfaces
===========================================================================
MATERIALS WE DON'T HAVE
=======================
Forbes, 3 September 1990, p 46. article on how patents can have a chilling
effect on development (p 46, 3 September 1990)
Forbes, 3 September 1990, column by Peter Huber telling Lotus that L&FC
will screw them in the long run. (He thinks they're a good idea in
principle.)
Picketers gather on Lotus' doorstep to protest firms' copyright claims
by Evan O. Grossman
(newspaper article, 1989 Lotus protest)
Software, Copyright, and Competition: the ``look and feel'' of the law
by Anthony Lawrence Clapes
1989, Quorum Books
Review:
Good background for the legal history, but Clapes is hopelessly biased
toward extending broad copyright protection to software.
Uses highly slanted language (narrower protection = "less well-treated" by
the law); calls narrow protectionists names (Luddites, whiners); ad
hominem attacks on personalities, morals, credentials, and intelligence of
those who oppose his point of view. Annoying cutesy jokes and quotations.
Discredits arguments by associating them with clearly guilty defendents
(Franklin in _Apple v. Franklin_). Doesn't present opposing viewpoint's
best arguments.
Poor understanding (or poor and unnecessary explanation) of computer
operation.
Argues that since creativity is required and there is a broad range of
expression, then the same protection should be accorded as is to a book,
even to the "structure, logic, and flow" (a recurring theme). Doesn't
consider other fields requiring creativity.
Makes the book analogy again and again, but likes the poetry analogy even
better. Neither of these works for me.
Claims there is a legal precedent (tradition and correctness) for treating
software as a book; any argument not to can only stem from policy
motivations. (But precedents are brand-new; no one had software in mind
before.)
Argues that talking of "interface" doesn't make sense, since everything,
down to individual instructions, is an interface. Thus, no copying
whatever, at any level, should be permitted.
Gemignani, Michael C. Law and the computer (1981)
Gemignani, Michael C. legal guide to EDP management (1989)
The first of these two books has been recommended as a good book on the
intellectual property in software issue.
Remer & Elias, Legal Care for Your Software
Published by Nolo Press, 950 Parker St, Berkeley, CA 94710.
REcommended as basic intro text on patents/copyrights.
November, 1983 Byte magazine.
The designers of the Apple Lisa GUI admit that they went over to Xerox
PARC, looked at the GUI's there, went back to Apple and redid their GUI to
look more like Xerox.
United States Code, Annotated
West Publishing Company
Contains laws, commentary, summaries of cases relating to them, telling
what the law really means in English, not legalese. However, this takes
up over ten yards of library shelves (over 1000 pages on title 17 --
copyright -- alone) and so is a poor way to get to know the law.
"Litigating the Validity and Infringement of Software Patents"
by Anthony and Colwell
Washington and Lee Law Review, volume 41, fall 1984.
Joe Morris <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org> says,
(Cf. Vault v. Quaid, in which my memory says the court held that the
shrink-wrap "license contract" in PC software was unenforcable.)
Anthony James Frybarger v. International Business Machines,
Inc., Bebelli Software, Inc., and Nasir Gebelli
IBM makes a blatant clone (called Mouser) of the Tricky Trapper game, but
gets away with it because the similarities are "restricted to ideas and
concepts only."
article on Hyatt and his microprocessor patent:
West magazine section, San Jose Mercury News, Sunday, 2-Dec-90
"Gilbert Who?" on p. 16, UnixWorld, Nov. 1990. It says that Gilbert Hyatt
recieved a patent for the "brain of a computer" on August 30, 1990. He
applied for the patent Dec. 28, 1970; this was earlier than filings from
Intel and TI.
Short article about AT&T getting tough on licencing its backing-store
patent (issued 1985) to X software developers
in London-based Unigram.X (a Unix-oriented weekly), February 18-22 1991 issue
America By Design
By David F. Noble
Knopf, 1977
Not a basic text but an account of the history of US patent law, among
other things. Noble argues that patent law has been converted from
protecting inventors to protecting the corporations inventors work for.
"Software Echo", the journal of the Scottish Software Community, issue 2.
Article about British Technology Group (BTG); those funded by SERC (the
British Science and Engineering Research Council - the main funding body
for UK scientific academic research) must disclose patentable discoveries,
including those in software (which, they say, are now patentable, even
though they weren't before, due to recent court cases in the USA).
Fritz Machlup and Edith Penrose, "The Patent Controversy in the Nineteenth
Century," Journal of Economic History 10 (May 1950)--generally critical of
patents
Eric Schiff, _Industrialization without National Patents: The Netherlands,
1869-1919, Switzerland, 1850-1907_ (Princeton University Press,
1971)--suggests that those countries did just fine without a patent system
H. I. Dutton, _The Patent System and Inventive Activity during the Industrial
Revolution, 1750-1862_ (Manchester University Press, 1984)--argues that the
patent system was important in English industrialization.
Steven D. Lubar "The Patent Paradox," in _Science, Technology and Human
Values_ 11, 1 (Winter 1986) pp. 90-94.
"Patent It Yourself" by David Pressman (a patent attorney),
published by Nolo Press (Berkeley, CA, 800-922-6656, 415-549-1976).
This is a highly recommended (by lots of people) how-to book.
Third edition appears January 1991.
Richard C. Levy, "The Inventor's Desktop Companion" (Visible Ink Press,
Detroit MI, 1991, ISBN 0-8103-7943-0).
Dubious patent awards can rob you of software rights (Law report)
Systems Integration, October 1991
Argues the anti-software-patent position.
"Twelve Myths About Patent Protection for Software", The Computer Lawyer,
May 1988
"The Patentability of Computer Programs: The PTO Guidelines, In re Grams
and in re Iwahashi, THe Computer Lawyer, Dec. 1989.
"Patentability of Computer-Related Inventions: A Criticism of the PTO's
View on Algorithms.", The George Washington Law Review, Vol 54:812,
August 1986. (Para 3 begins: "In Diamond v. Diehr, the Supreme Court first
recognized as patentable an invention in which the sole novelty resided
in the implementation of a computer program.")
"Patentable Subject Matter, Mathematical Algorithms and Computer Programs",
otherwise known as the "USPTO Guidelines for software patents"
USPTO Official Gazette, Sept 5, 1989, pp5-12
Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, September 12, 1991,
Vol. 42, No. 1047; Pg. 457, UNORIGINAL ELEMENTS OF WORK
SHOULD NOT BE ELIMINATED FROM SIMILARITY TEST.
APPLE COMPUTER, INC. v. MICROSOFT CORPORATION and HEWLETT-
PACKARD COMPANY, No. C-88-20149-VRW, (U.S.N.CA.) 1991 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 16256 (August 14, 1991).
COURT BACKTRACKS ON MAC ORIGINALITY; HP/MICROSOFT/APPLE
COURT CASE FOCUSING ON THE ORIGINALITY OF THE MACINTOSH
SCREEN DESIGN, MACWEEK, August 20, 1991, Pg. 3.
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