Re: [idn] Walid inc. patent news.

[Dave Crocker <dhc@dcrocker.net>]

Marc,

Your comment was so cryptic, I do not know what it means.  Please clarify.

If you are saying that an effort like this cannot be, why?

If you are saying that an effort like this cannot take place within an IETF 
working group, I guess I am also curious why not.  (Though the issue is 
secondary, since I believe the process would be easier and more efficient 
to handle outside the working group.

If you are saying that an effort like this cannot get around the patent, 
I'll simply note that that is a question that is as much a matter of law as 
engineering.  It is sometimes fascinating to see what an attorney will 
recommend...

Given the importance of this work, it seems entirely worthwhile to be 
aggressive in seeking a solution that is not encumbered with proprietary 
intellectual property.

d/


At 09:33 AM 4/26/2001, Marc Blanchet wrote:
>At/À 09:19 2001-04-26 -0700, Dave Crocker you wrote/vous écriviez:
>>This might be a little strange, but it also might be worth pursuing:
>>
>>In patent infringement cases, one way a defendant responds is to make 
>>changes to their product, to ensure that it certainly does not infringe 
>>in the future.  (Whether it infringed earlier is a separate 
>>question.)  This process of re-design is done in consultation with a 
>>patent litigation attorney.
>>
>>I am wondering whether it would not behoove the collective participants 
>>in the IDNS working group to band together and acquire the assistance of 
>>a patent litigation attorney, and explore possible redesigns to working 
>>group specifications, to bypass the patents that are being asserted?
>>
>>This does not have to be a formal working group activity.
>
>this cannot be.
>
>Marc.
>
>>  Privately, some companies could  get together, contribute the necessary 
>> funds to the re-design group effort, and produce a revised specification 
>> that they then submit to the working group.
>
>----------
>Dave Crocker   <mailto:dcrocker@brandenburg.com>
>Brandenburg InternetWorking   <http://www.brandenburg.com>
>tel: +1.408.246.8253;   fax: +1.408.273.6464