edmund ronald wrote:
How should I know? That was one unhappy conversation. I saw no point to it - after all patents are a form of disclosure so it seemed to me that anything that has been patented has already -ab definitio- been disclosed. At least now, some of this stuff is out there. I guess I'm not fit to become a lawyer, I don't understand all these IP issues.
About the only country that recognises method patents is the USA, so the first thing to ask would be what the patent number is. If they can't/won't quote it, or it's a US only patent and you're not subject to US law, I wouldn't be so quickly intimidated. (and calling discussions of a procedure documented in a patent "encouragement" is drawing a long bow, and cuts across many other established rights of communication.) Graeme Gill.