Subject: Constructive IETF patent action(s)

From: Dave Crocker <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2000 10:39:27 -0700

Folks,

The time between ietf list discussions about patent issues seems to be 
getting smaller.  Unfortunately, there is not much that the IETF can do 
about patent law, in the U.S. or elsewhere.

(Also, based on my own very limited exposure to that realm, it seems clear 
that only a very small percentage of those participating in these 
discussions have much detailed knowledge about realities of patent 
processes.  That's not a criticism, just an added reason we should limit 
our discussion of the general issues.)

In the U.S., government patent officers DO, in fact, search outside 
databases, such as related to the IEEE.  A number of notes on this recent 
thread suggested searching RFCs and Internet Drafts.

The problem is that it is not currently possible to search "the Internet 
Drafts" except for those that are currently active.  It is possible to 
retrieve a prior draft, if you know its name, but not to search for it.

The data base of all Internet Drafts, past and present, is an incredibly 
rich reservoir of prior art.  It would be enormously helpful, both to 
government patent officers and to patent infringement defense attorneys, to 
have easy searching access to the IETF's I-D data base.

d/

=-=-=-=-=
Dave Crocker  <[email-masked]>
Brandenburg Consulting  <www.brandenburg.com>
Tel: +1.408.246.8253,  Fax: +1.408.273.6464
675 Spruce Drive,  Sunnyvale, CA 94086 USA