Quote:
|
Originally Posted by martinguerre
isn't it possible to defeat a patent if you can show you already made a product like it first?
to get a patent, M$ would have to show they had a unique product. The pre-existing apple software would be evidence to the contrary...
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
a patent doesn't mean someone has to have a product, it's just an idea that they have and register it. There's lots of patents out there for ideas that haven't been made yet...
|
martinguerres point is not that Microsoft has to have a product to get the patent. The point is that Microsoft’s patent is invalid if they have patented something that someone else is already making. This is generally (but not always) considered proof that the idea is not new to the one filing the patent, even if they did develop it independently.
Example: If I suddenly come up with a great idea for a lawn mower using fishing line instead of steel blades, this is not patentable because the weed eater is already being made, whether or not it's already patented.
Similarly, if Apple was already marketing the iPod, Microsoft is going to have a hard time defending a new patent claiming some part of it is their new idea.