Re: Copyright and patent issues...

[CDTobie@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/14/02 4:05:01 AM, jerryolson@rrv.net writes:

>And there's nothing from stopping professional photographers from taking
>a photo of the tower at night, either. I'd be Damned if I'd pay anything
>to anybody to photograph a national monument! Not a dime! That's almost
>like Exxon claiming ownership of the sun and adding a $25 fee on your
>monthly utility bill.

Interesting choice of analogies... since one of the nicknames of patently 
obvious patents is "blue sky" patents; the joke being that the first one to 
think to patent the fact that the sky is blue gets a royalty on sky blue...

The patent the Gretag Macbeth owns in the US which does not allow any other 
manufacturer to build a single device that can calibrate both monitors and 
printers without a license is one patent that has been referred to in such 
terms. This patent has proven enforcable: X-Rite has settled for violations 
caused by the Colortron, and it was this patent that put SpectroStar 
(developers of the SpectroCam) out of business.

C. David Tobie
Design Cooperative
CDTobie@designcoop.com
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