Check outghis article, it appears that somone
recently patented the
idea of using a pivot date, such as 30, and having the computer
consider numbers below that pivot point as being in the year 20??, ie
as being from 2000 - 2029. and he's trying to force companies that
used that programming technique to fix their Y2K problems, to pay him
millions. 70% of companies supposedly use that concept.
Just another argument for me to believe that no individual programming
techniques should be patentable, only total products... How many of
us have used that technique for years for things even before Y2K was
an issue?!
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
Well, just as long as you give me a chance to patent MY great idea.
I figured out a great way to fix many problems due to using non
initialized variables in programs, by adding a statement similar
to: variable = 0. And i've worked out techniques to initialize
variables to values of 1, 2, and 3 as well. I believe further
research will make more values possible, but of course i maintain
that these future developments would all be covered by my patent idea...
-Lawrence (future billionaire) LeMay