On Fri, 3 Feb 2006, Mika Tuupola wrote:
> Does this have effect on such project as Semacode?
Well, IANAL of course, but it looks to me like one of the claims that
would need to be satisfied to infringe the patent would be that you send
the scanned code to a "resolution server" or "gateway server" which then
determines the URL that should be accessed. Since a Semacode bar code
holds the URL directly, it looks to me as if it would not be infringing.
However, ColorCode looks like it might well infringe the patent, since
it does use this lookup system. On the other hand, ColorCode has
certainly been around for far longer than eighteen months, which is how
long ago this patent was filed.
As for the USPTO, well, they are currently a revenue-generator for the
U.S. Government, so they're under strong pressure to approve as many
patents as possible in order to keep their revenue high. If they started
rejecting a greater percentage of applications, their revenue would
plummet.
cjs
--
Curt Sampson <cjs@cynic.net> +81 90 7737 2974
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism
by those who have not got it. --George Bernard Shaw
Received on Sat Feb 4 01:57:09 2006