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To: vibaby who wrote (5875)	7/15/1999 10:55:00 PM
From: Don Lloyd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10309

vibaby - (...For the last 10 years patents have proven to be the only way you can protect intellectual property in the software area. Copyrights only protect code and not creative solutions and non-specific inventions.) This may very well be true, but is also irrevelvent. Creative solutions and non-specific inventions in software that also have significant long term market value are few and far between. Any potential WIND customer, given time and money, could internally produce whatever they might obtain from WIND or a functional substitute. If WIND cannot provide a timely, cost effective solution to a real customer problem, then it will fail, no matter how many patents it may or may not have. Regards, Don

To: vibaby who wrote (5875)	7/16/1999 3:53:00 AM
From: Chinacat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10309

<<You don't know what you're talking about. >> Wrong. I do know what I am talking about. The issue is that patents can protect only when the IP has an exclusive and unique methodolgy of solving a particular problem. You need to understand what an RTOS company really delivers to its customers. (Are they delivering IP or is it something else?) 1)There isn't much in any OS that you can patent. Most existing RTOS use the rate monotonic theory of scheduling, which is freely available. Noone can patent it. 2) Most RTOS try to comply to common networking specifications which are also publicly available. For example using BSD sockets and using the TCP/IP layers. Noone can patent this either. 3) The only things that an RTOS might be able to patent are either a PROPRIETARY scheduling algorithm or such, and a PROPRIETARY debug interface/methodology. Both of these would limit the scope of their business because PROPIETARY = Limited. Limited = less business (Maybe unless your Microsoft). WindRiver uses open standards such as TCL in the debug backplane precisily because they are OPEN and COMMONLY ACCEPTED standards. This is good for the customers and the partners. The true value of a company like this is that they make a tried-and-tested platform based on open specs. A customer has the comfort of knowing that WindRiver delivers a QUALITY product that's extensible and flexible, and complies with standards. (JMHO) quote of the day: "Make every post like it's your last..." vibaby