[OSM-talk] Patents

[Dave]

On 1/10/07, Lester Caine <lester at lsces.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Anybody been following the discussion on OSGeo about the digital mapping
> patents.
>
> http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220050270299%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20050270299&RS=DN/20050270299
> in particular seems to cover just about evey aspect of the current
> 'slippy map' ?


hmmm....

Looks like a software patent so probably completely unenforceable in the UK.
And also, doesn't this cover google's slippy map too? in which case the
patent has the minor problem of being filed about a month and a half after
google maps was launched.
But hey, I'm not a lawyer, and I don't even pretend to understand the
reasonings of the USPTO.
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