RussellMc gmail.com> writes:=20 > Here I am railing on again about patents which seem to attempt to patent = and > profit from applied common sense and time honoured standard practice and > normality, let alone trivial obviousness. >=20 > On this occasion it's Apple who has been granted a patent for connecting > things together ijn wholly obvious trivial time honoured ways and for MPP= T > controlling a system based on a technically false premise. A lot of people in Europe consider the US patent system beyond help, totall= y corrupt in favor of 'industry lobbies', and physically dangerous for their operation in Europe. Several people have found their activity or product (a= ctive firms, sometimes in business for decades), being patented overseas. Attitud= es range from completely disregarding all the hogwash coming over or having a = good laugh over it to specifically designing in full knowledge that the product = will never be marketed in the US. Sometimes using US IP or parts is frowned upon= , and scrupulously avoided. Reading patents is frowned on strongly, and it is ass= umed at all times that all internet accesses to patent sites are monitored and l= ogged. Avoiding any US IP and parts prevents the potential problem of supply conte= ntion in case of legal problems later. Europe has a long history of patent wars i= n industry, and it is unlikely that the US company backed patent lobby will b= e able to push the US type patent system through EU Parliament. They have bee= n working on that for years, with little more than ridicule and massive scand= als to show for it. It is hard to fool people who had a working patent system b= efore America was discovered by Cristobal Colon, and the scars to go with many ye= ars of sparring over patents between countries often separated by just a few mi= les. --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .