Appeals Court Affirms Old Polaroid Patent Invalid 45
mpicpp (3454017) writes with news of a notoriously abused (basically "method of displaying images on a machine") software patent being declared invalid. From the article: The ruling from last week is one of the first to apply new Supreme Court guidance about when ideas are too "abstract" to be patented. ... The patents in this case describe a type of "device profile" that allows digital images to be accurately displayed on different devices. US Patent No. 6,128,415 was originally filed by Polaroid in 1996. After a series of transfers, in 2012 the patent was sold to Digitech Image Technologies, a branch of Acacia Research Corporation, the largest publicly traded patent assertion company. ...
In the opinion, a three-judge panel found that the device profile described in the patent is a "collection of intangible color and spatial information," not a machine or manufactured object. "Data in its ethereal, non-physical form is simply information that does not fall under any of the categories of eligible subject matter under section 101," wrote Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna on behalf of the panel.
Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Except, no "founder" ever said that.
Unless you consider Ronald Reagan one of the founders, which considering your sentiment, is quite possible. Either people have the right to consent to their government or they don't. Whether or not there are social programs does not change that. What that quote (from the 1950's) is really saying is, "We'd be better off if people who disagree with me weren't allowed to vote".
Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Unless you consider Ronald Reagan one of the founders
He's one of the founders of the current oligarchy, certainly.
Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Communism didn't kill many millions in the 20th century.
Tyranny did. And its continuing in the 21st century. You probably don't call it tyranny though.