[SLUG] Software patents

[Jonathan Worthington]

"Stephen O'Neill" <soneill84 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Jonathan Worthington wrote:
>
>> Interesting.  On icons, I guess so long as you don't literally copy them 
>> you're OK.  You can get XP-alike icons for use in your own apps from this 
>> place, for example:-
>> http://www.glyfx.com/toolbarimages.html
>> They have done the artwork themselves - they have their own in-house 
>> artist(s).
>
> In the software patent sense are images etc 'data' and not 'code' - 
> therefore exempt?
>
Patents protect ideas, not expression.  The images themselves are protected 
by copyright.  Programming source code and the binary code you get after 
compiling it are also protected by copyright.  I don't think at that level 
it's about patents.

Software patents don't protect a particular implementation, but rather 
protect algorithms and methods.  For example, say I came up with a 
super-fast way of sorthing data, implemented it, printed it out and gave it 
to you.  If you took a copy of it, either by typing it into a computer or 
photocopying or whatever, and I hadn't given permission for you to do that, 
you'd be in breach of copyright law.  If, however, you studied my code and 
understood how it worked, then went away and wrote your own implementation 
then you'd be in the clear.

Now suppose I had patented my new sorting algorithm and we did the above. 
While you are safe from the point of view of copyright law, you've infringed 
my patent because you've implemented my idea.  If I find out about this, I 
can take action against you.

I doubt you could construe the XP icon style as an invention so I don't 
think you could get a patent on that, but I may well be wrong.  An idea for 
laying a program out or a particular way of doing a user interface may well 
be patentable.  I know that certain GUI components have been patented in the 
past though.  Maybe some are now.  Here's one on a type of scroll bar:-
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5339391.html

> I guess these are questions for the speaker...
Certainly - I'm no expert in these areas, and don't take what I've written 
as legal advice.  It's just "to the best of my knowledge".

Jonathan