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Well folks, this is not cause for alarm, but Lego have got their software patent on how they store model files: US6389375: Virtual reality modelling Published 5/14/02 Filed 1/14/99 The "novel idea" for which they have received patent protection is: (...) (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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(...) As usual I'm amazed at the ineptitude of the patent system when it comes to software. I think it's because all patent examiners eventually expect to become patent lawyers, so the more crap they let through the system as examiners, the more (...) (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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(...) I'm not any kind of a lawyer, nor am I knowledgeable about patents, but this part sounds somewhat disturbing. The way I read it, this point/claim involves taking two (studs-up) subassemblies, and placing the second subassembly at any position (...) (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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It all becomes ever so much clearer when you understand that "novel" means "not known to the patent office". (There are also other subtleties that make a thing novel or not novel.) "Immediately obvious to one skilled in the art" is not asserted (...) (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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Here's another ridiculous Lego patent, which claims the idea implemented by the wave of "breakdance" games published in the mid-80s for machines like the Commodore 64 and described in magazines such as Compute! or Home Computer Monthly. US6353170: (...) (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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(...) Huh. I think they implemented this in the "Friends" software. Steve (22 years ago, 3-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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"Erik Olson" <erik@olson.pair.com> wrote in message news:H1vK31.DJ8@lugnet.com... (...) [ ... snipped ... ] Storing database coordinates in integer format is pretty common in CAD tools, at least in my industry (Electronic Design Automation). My (...) (22 years ago, 4-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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(...) I forced myself to read some more claims in the patent last night. Yuck! Look at claim number 19. They seem to be attempting to patent fetching parts on the fly over the internet. Something has to be done about this foolishness! How old is the (...) (22 years ago, 4-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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A better example would be a model which references a subfile on the plane of an open hinge. The crux of the patent is transformation of a coordinate system. Specifically an integer grid coordinate system. CAR.DAT doesn't have anything like that (the (...) (22 years ago, 4-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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(...) Well the integer coordinate system isn't forced on CAR.DAT, unless you want the parts to line up. Isn't the LDRAW stud spacing a published integer grid coordinate system used to position geometric (part) objects which are defined in a floating (...) (22 years ago, 4-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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"Don Heyse" <dheyse@hotmail.spam....away.com> skrev i meddelandet news:H1xFC4.Ex1@lugnet.com... (...) Yes. (...) Yes. I released version 1.1 1998-July-16 (That's as far back as my own posting archive goes), so the 0.9 version should be from at least (...) (22 years ago, 4-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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(...) Good thing MPDs existed before 1999, then. :) Steve (22 years ago, 5-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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| | Re: Lego patent issued
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From the "prior art" section, the discussion of "what a skilled practitioner in the art would know as VRML" is unbelievable. I wonder if the writer made these claims in ignorance of the process that became VRML97, or was not even passably familiar (...) (22 years ago, 5-Sep-02, to lugnet.cad)
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