CS547 Human-Computer Interaction Seminar (Seminar on People, Computers, and Design)
Fridays 12:50-2:05 · Gates B01 · Open to the public
Paul Heckel · Hyperracks Inc.Debunking the Software Patent Myths
May 13, 1992
The League for Programming Freedom calls Mr. Heckel's software
patent an "absurd patent," and "outrageous result."
In a February talk in this series, Mr. Stallman of the League
said Mr. Heckel was "extorting Apple Computer" by suing
them for patent infringement on Hypercard. Mr. Heckel will set
the record straight on his patents and the results of his research
into the value and history of patents in general and especially
software patents. Learn that:
* Patents are a constitutional right.
* A PC software company is named for a 15th century patentholder.
* The current software patent mess is a result of IBM's using
its influence to weaken software as a competing technology. IBM
got its in house policy written into a supreme court decision.
* Patents are in the interest of the software developer, innovation,
and U.S. competitiveness.
* The nine patents the League cites on examination show software
patents promote innovation, new business formation and generally
prove the opposite of the League's allegations about software
patents.
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Paul Heckel has been involved in leading edge software since
the early 1960's when he worked on developing systems software
for several early timesharing systems in the early 1970's he
worked at Xerox PARC. In 1982 he founded QuickView systems to
develop personal and notebook computer software. He is the author
of The Elements of Friendly Software Design (Sybex). This talk
is taken from "Debunking the Software Patent Myth,"
to be published in the Communications of the ACM 1992.
NOTE: The views expressed here (as well as those expressed
by Stallman) are those of the respective speakers and do not
necessarily reflect those of the seminar organizers or of Stanford
University.
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