Hmm, seems one could patent it in at least the US??
Here's some commentary from a well-respected Qualcomm engineer (if I remember correctly, he was among those primarily responsible for embedding the TCP/IP stack onto the first CDMA phones, back in the pre-Netscape days) on the madness of our modern-day patent system. I don't necessarily agree with all of the conclusions he draws, but I found it an interesting read nonetheless:
people.qualcomm.com
An excerpt:
Some people have said to me, "How can you attack patents? As a Qualcomm stockholder, they've made you a lot of money". Yes, but this has come at an unacceptable personal cost. Last summer I was subpoenaed to a grueling and pointless deposition in a patent suit by Bellcore, my former employer, against Fore Systems, a maker of ATM switches. When I was asked my view of the patent system, I responded, "I find it totally loathesome, and it has totally drained the joy out of engineering for me". And I was exaggerating only slightly. Patent angst has significantly reduced my job satisfaction, enough to make me seriously consider giving up the engineering profession. And as someone who knew by age 5 that engineering was his life's calling, quite frankly that's just not something that money can replace. |
