On Thu, 3 Feb 2005, Ralph Crongeyer wrote:
Does anyone on this list know about or where/who to find info about
software patents?
My specific question is this: if I wrote a program my company that was
being used on a government project and then I left the company and
wanted to completely rewrite the code (it will do the same thing) and
patent it myself, is that legal?
< i aint no lawyer)
"patents" ... you have to be the first .... not the copy cat (rewrite)
so even if you were to pay some "expert lawyer $100M to get your
new patent ... it'd be worthless in the long run since it
is "next generation" of what somebody else did
- where their originl ideas end and where you new ideas start
would depend on the govt contract and your employment terms
i think you mean copyright .. but even so ... depends on the terms of
the govt contract and your employement contract where you work when
they hired you...
- usually they own anything and everything ... including what's
in your head that you gained from when you worked there
( its a touchy subject of what is "intellectual property"
( vs just knowledge you get and remember... nobody can make
( you forget what you know
- ALWAYS talk to a lawyer ... and pay them for their professional advice
</aint>
or if you want more "free" help, try debian-legal or other "sw mailing
lists"
c ya
alvin