{OT} Re: 30 Years Of Netscape

On 11/5/24 17:39, Rich wrote:

In comp.misc Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 5 Nov 2024 14:32:21 -0500, bad sector wrote:
>

On 11/4/24 14:35, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>

One important thing Netscape did before going completely defunct
was to open-source the browser.

>
THAT was a class act!  I did something vaguely similar when I took
out a provisional patent and then let it lapse for the express
purpose of thus hard-wiring the idea into public domain to prevent
anyone from ever being able to take out a patent on the same idea.

>
Patents in the public interest ... now THAT I can applaud!

 Officially, that is (at least in the US) the official, Constitution
derived, reason for the patent system in the first place.  In exchange
for a limited length monopoly, the public gets disclosure of the
invention and the ability to use it once the limited length monopoly
runs out.
 Of course, a 20 year monopoly lets bad actors be bad for 20 years....
 

But then, simply publishing the idea would, in theory, count as
“prior art”, wouldn’t it?  Though in practice it is very hard to get
patents invalidated anyway, at least in the US system (also *cough*
East Texas *cough*).

 Yes, it does not matter the manner of publication, just the fact that
it was published.
 But, bad sector's method has the added benefit of the fact that the one
"database" that is most easily accessible to the examiner's working in
the patent office is the actual database of prior patents.  So
inserting his idea into the existing patent database itself meant the
document had the best chance that it would be found, and possibly used,
to block someone else.

Exactly, which is is why I done it. There are many ideas in the public domain by the mere fact of once having been published but if they don't turn up in an early search you may later have to prosecute your case and end up in a never-ending brawl costing attorney fees and such other luxuries that most mortals will NEVER be able to afford. I'm no expert but the provisional patent system was an ideal alternative for $100 which I was pleased to invest into screwing wanna-be chislers in waiting. The provisional system was later terminated.
And what led up to it all was an earlier patent I had actually had prosecuted by an american pattent attorney, that one cost me a LOT more and I had my hopes up but the potential market (military) just wasn't smart enough for my invention. I still think it to be an excellent idea and had developed it as an expert instructor and sometimes stunt sky-diver, even discussed it for a very short while with the Royal Military College, alas to no avail. Continued renewals would have eaten my house so I had it lapse into public domain ...as my first lesson :-)