[REBOL] Re: REBOL may be in violation of MS patent...
From: roland:hadinger:arcor at: 20-Nov-2004 11:47
I'd also like to point out that this invention is definitely not patentable by
proper standards because of prior art in many other languages, like the
C++ != operator. If Microsoft is granted a patent on something hilariously
trivial as that, it's official: software developers and computer sciences in
the US are really in big trouble!
BTW, it is quite imaginable that the Microsoft guys didn't invent this at all,
but were inspired by listening to some former customer, like for example this
unhappy guy who once made a posting to the microsoft.public.vb.discussion
usenet group in 2000:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=IsNot+Roland+Hadinger&hl=en&lr=&selm=86a0qh%243th%241%40ssauraab-i-1.production.compuserve.com&rnum=1
One of the developers even admits that they implemented this feature because
some customers requested it:
http://www.panopticoncentral.net/archive/2003/11/17/243.aspx
So this patent should be easy to fight.
--
R.
