17 Sep
2012
17 Sep
'12
10:26 a.m.
On 17 Sep 2012 at 12:25, David Riley wrote:
> Does prior art have to be patented? I'm
certainly no lawyer, but
I
was under the impression that what matters is that it
existed before
the invention claimed, thus rendering the invention non-novel and thus
not valid for a patent. Thus, even though no one has patented the
wheel, you can't get a patent on it (though there are those who have
certainly managed to do so by hoodwinking the patent offices).
I don't know--I do remember one of the earliest software patents
granted was for the use of CRC for checking file integrity. I kid
you not.
IANAL, thank heavens.
--Chuck