RE: Siderean patents faceted navigation
"Dale Mead" <[email protected]> Fri, 2 Feb 2007 10:55:48 -0600
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.infodesign.facetedclassification |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <1ECE0EB50388174790F9694F77522CCF0F0283EB@zrc2hxm0.corp.nortel.com> |
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I only took a quick look at the patent, but it would appear that the
press release claims might be somewhat broader than the actual claims of
the patent.
There is no question that the whole area of intellectual property is in
need of some major change. I think that the biggest issue is that there
is money (and, therefore, campaign dollars and funds for lobbyists) in
protecting IP, but not so much in providing a workable system. Big
companies patent everything in sight, not only to provide ground for
suit (Alcatel, having bought Lucent last month is now trying to enforce
old Bell Labs patents on MP3), but also to provide negotiating positions
if they get sued ("Yes, we are violating your patents, but you are
violating ours too!"). Small companies are at a disadvantage in this
(as are big companies when the plaintiff is simply a patent holding
company).
As to navigation systems (faceted or otherwise): A patent can be
destroyed by showing that it is prior art. Faceted classification,
generally, predates the date of application of this patent. Many of the
big research companies (IBM, Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, etc) engage in a
practice of "defensive publication." That is, after they determine that
they do not want to patent something, they publish the details of the
idea in a industry forum or, often, a public company technical journal
(that they control for this purpose). This prevents someone later from
hitting them with a patent over something that they themselves had
invented earlier. I once was involved in a multi-billion dollar suit
regarding an alleged patent over the concept of a computer "file
system." The patent was applied for in the 1960's, but not granted
until the '90's (known as a "submarine patent"). Turns out that IBM did
a defensive publication of the idea of a file system in 1956. The suit
went away. A generalized patent claim regarding faceted classification
applied for in the timeframe of this patent will run into prior
art/defensive publication issues. I haven't been tracking the work of
other people, but I, myself, presented on user experience, process, and
data modeling aspects of faceted navigation in three published
conferences in 2000-2001. Prior to that, Apple's Advanced Technology
Group, published a lot of material on faceting and navigation through
information spaces in conjunction with "Hot Sauce" and the MCF (?, from
memory) specification that later gave rise to RDF.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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<p>I only took a quick look at the patent, but it would appear that the<br>
press release claims might be somewhat broader than the actual claims of<br>
the patent.<br>
<br>
There is no question that the whole area of intellectual property is in<br>
need of some major change. I think that the biggest issue is that there<br>
is money (and, therefore, campaign dollars and funds for lobbyists) in<br>
protecting IP, but not so much in providing a workable system. Big<br>
companies patent everything in sight, not only to provide ground for<br>
suit (Alcatel, having bought Lucent last month is now trying to enforce<br>
old Bell Labs patents on MP3), but also to provide negotiating positions<br>
if they get sued ("Yes, we are violating your patents, but you are<br>
violating ours too!"). Small companies are at a disadvantage in this<br>
(as are big companies when the plaintiff is simply a patent holding<br>
company).<br>
<br>
As to navigation systems (faceted or otherwise): A patent can be<br>
destroyed by showing that it is prior art. Faceted classification,<br>
generally, predates the date of application of this patent. Many of the<br>
big research companies (IBM, Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, etc) engage in a<br>
practice of "defensive publication.<wbr>" That is, after they determine that<br>
they do not want to patent something, they publish the details of the<br>
idea in a industry forum or, often, a public company technical journal<br>
(that they control for this purpose). This prevents someone later from<br>
hitting them with a patent over something that they themselves had<br>
invented earlier. I once was involved in a multi-billion dollar suit<br>
regarding an alleged patent over the concept of a computer "file<br>
system." The patent was applied for in the 1960's, but not granted<br>
until the '90's (known as a "submarine patent"). Turns out that IBM did<br>
a defensive publication of the idea of a file system in 1956. The suit<br>
went away. A generalized patent claim regarding faceted classification<br>
applied for in the timeframe of this patent will run into prior<br>
art/defensive publication issues. I haven't been tracking the work of<br>
other people, but I, myself, presented on user experience, process, and<br>
data modeling aspects of faceted navigation in three published<br>
conferences in 2000-2001. Prior to that, Apple's Advanced Technology<br>
Group, published a lot of material on faceting and navigation through<br>
information spaces in conjunction with "Hot Sauce" and the MCF (?, from<br>
memory) specification that later gave rise to RDF.<br>
<br>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]<br>
<br>
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