[14138] in Cypherpunks
Graph isomorphism based PK cryptosystems?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eric Hughes)
Wed May 25 13:28:01 1994
Date: Wed, 25 May 94 10:28:50 -0700
From: hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: Jay Prime Positive's message of Tue, 24 May 94 21:51 PDT <m0q6AwJ-0003pXC@jpplap>
I only worry that if I publish, it could be patented. And I don't
want the algorithm to end up in the hands of the software patent
folks. Especially if they will be making money off it, and I wont.
If you publish, only you can patent. One must be the 'true inventor'
(or some similar term of art) in order to file a patent on an
invention. As someone pointed out, a system can be re-invented; then
that person is also a true inventor and can patent.
Publication is protection against patenting. This is one of the main
reasons behind such publications as the IBM Technical Journal--the
publication of results not worth patenting themselves, but definitely
worth preventing others from patenting. Publication of a result
precludes this.
Eric
