> I also believe the patent would have been proven invalid if challenged.
> The U.S. Court system of that time wasn't quite computer savvy enough to
> know what the prior art was in that field. Had a judge been forced to
> think about it for a few weeks, it would have been clear. (Just the idea
> of Nintendo getting a patent on a D-Shell connecter shows how messed up
> things were... And no, the patent was not a design patent on *that
> cartridge*, it was the general shape.)

Which brings us to Intel and it's patented slot 2 cartridge which
effectively prevents the likes of Cyrix from producing a Pentium 2
compatible processor. I suspect they haven't just patented the shape,
but also the pin-out. Does anyone know any more about it? Would it come
foul of monopoly laws, their not allowing competitors to produce rival
processors for PCs?
Not that I'm too bothered anyway. The 8086 family has lasted too long in
my opinion, and it's getting time for a more advanced design to take
over (running Linux of course ;).

--
--------------- Linux- the choice of a GNU generation. --------------
: Alex Holden (M1CJD)- Caver, Programmer, Land Rover nut, Radio Ham :
---------- http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/1532/ ---------