Quote:
Originally Posted by Starson17
Your link goes to a patent application, not a patent. That application doesn't give IBM any right to prevent people from debugging.
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Correct but the threat associated with "patent pending" can easily be used to pressure people away from using the implementation. Even when it will be rejected in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starson17
Finally, IBM is notoriously hesitant to assert their patents. They are primarily used defensively when another company asserts a patent against IBM. They can often settle by cross licensing. I'm not saying they never assert them, but that they do so less often than many other companies considering they are the largest patent holder.
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They also break their
patent pledge and threaten
Open Source Projects with patent infringement if it might cause them to lose money.
The overall point I was trying to make with the example is software patents cover so much every day design and development that there is no way to develop software without violating a large number of patents. Microsoft even
claims, "The Linux graphical user interfaces - essentially, the way design elements like menus and toolbars are set up - run afoul of another 65 [of their patents]."