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    SubjectRe: Article: IBM wants to "clean up the license" of Linux
    On 22 Dec 1998, Jim Pick wrote:
    > But the USPTO says:
    >
    > "The term of the patent shall be 20 years from the date on which the
    > application for the patent was filed in the United States"
    >
    > (from http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/whatispa.htm )
    >
    > 20 years?

    Correct. That was recently changed as part of the GATT treaties. BTW,
    the GATT treaties, if I am reading them right, allow you to enforce
    your patents in any GATT signatory country. But consult a lawyer, not
    me.

    There is more info at http://www.law.cornell.edu (the Cornell
    University Law Schools's online law library, great stuff!). They
    have both "before" and "after" snapshots of the Patent law, because
    the older law still applies to patents issued under said law.

    > Maybe the 17 year timeframe is an old rule which they've changed?

    Yes. See the snippet of the U.S. code that I referred to earlier.

    WARNING: I'm a sysadmin, Jim, not a lawyer!

    --
    Eric Lee Green eric@linux-hw.com http://www.linux-hw.com/~eric
    "Linux represents a best-of-breed UNIX, that is trusted in mission
    critical applications..." -- internal Microsoft memo


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