On Feb 13, 2006, at 2:52 PM, Danny Sauer wrote:

> I'm convinced that's taken out only as protection from being sued by
> someone else who would have eventually patented database lookups

Well, yes.  A remarkable number of obnoxious patents are probably
meant to be defensive.  It might be interesting to look up the
stats and see how many times a "big company" initiated a lawsuit
or royalty request for violation of less substantial patents.  I'm
inclined to believe it doesn't happen very often.  The reverse,
where some inventor manages to cripple a nascent industry by
wanting inconvenient royalties for a patent they filed but never
did anything with, is very frustrating (remember token ring?)

BillW
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