Re: Bezos on 1-click ordering

[mjd-perl-pm@plover.com]

> Patents are usually invented (no matter how ridiculous the
> invention).  "Prior art" is a basis for disqualifying patents.  So
> if you discover it, it's probably unpatentable.

Only if someone else discovered it first and published the results.

Another reason an invention might not be patentable is if it's obvious
`to one skilled in the art.'  One of the many problems with software
patents is that the U.S. Patent Office requires certain credentials
for patent examiners, and a CS degree is not one of these
credentials.  You have to have some *other* sort of degree to be a
patent examiner, and so very few patent examiners are skilled in CS,
and can't tell whether an invention is obvious or not.


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