Re: strokes-mode and touchscreen patents? was Re: emacs and touchscreen

[Stefan Monnier]

> Something occurred to me today after watching my touchscreen
> strokes-mode video. Could the gesture recognition in strokes.el either
> 1. be threatened by patents that existed prior to 1997 (the first year
> of copyright listed in strokes.el)

Better not try to find out, since distributing infringing things is
a more serious offense if you know it's infringing than if you don't.

> or 2. qualify as prior art for techniques patented later?

Most software patents have obvious prior art, according to lots of people.
So, yes, that's probably the case.  Then again it doesn't matter:
- the court's notion of "obvious prior art" is quite different from what
  most people expect.
- invalidating a patent is an enormous undertaking that costs a lot of money.

Just stop worrying about all that crap and instead help fight the
legality of software patents as a whole.


        Stefan