[11315] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Compton patent overturned
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Barry Shein)
Tue Mar 29 00:03:42 1994
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 1994 13:33:27 -0500
From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
To: com-priv@psi.com
This just appeared in my mail box:
>SOFTWARE PATENT OVERTURNED
>A broad software patent awarded to Compton New Media last August has been
>overturned by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the wake of protests
>by software and computer companies. The patent would have given Compton's
>parent company, Tribune Co., a monopoly on a technique essential to
>retrieving combined sound, images and text. "The patent was so breathtaking
>in its sweep that for people in the industry it was like trying to patent
>sunlight," said one industry observer. (Wall Street Journal 3/25/94 B2)
-Barry Shein
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