taskSoftware Patents examples - Tasks: task #220, Patent issued for the Brain

 
 

You are not allowed to post comments on this tracker with your current authentication level.

task #220: Patent issued for the Brain

Submitter:  Hugo Gayosso <hgayosso>
Submitted:  -
   
 
Category:  Patent Database Should Start On:  Tue 05 Jun 2001 10:00:00 PM UTC
Should be Finished on:  Sat 09 Jun 2001 10:00:00 PM UTC Priority:  5 - Normal
Status:  None Privacy:  Public
Assigned to:  None Percent Complete:  Any
Open/Closed:  Open Effort:  0.00

-, original submission:  

From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
Subject: [msimcich@accesstools.com: Patent issued for the Brain]
To: -email is unavailable-
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 10:13:55 -0700 (MST)
Reply-to: -email is unavailable-

It would be worth asking around (asking Simcich, to start)
to find if any free software projects have been hurt by this patent.

From: "Michael Simcich" <msimcich@accesstools.com>
Subject: Patent issued for the Brain
To: <rms@gnu.org>
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 09:28:10 -0800

I'm trying to draw attention to the newly awarded patent for Natrificial's
Brain. I figure that you are aware of this but there hasn't been too much in
the public eye yet. I've submitted the following to techocrat.net and
slashdot; technocrat put it up (http://technocrat.net/952758993/index_html)
and slashdot didn't (I guess the new Microsoft gaming console was more
important). Discussion on the topic has occured in a few other places; I can
forward refs to these if you are interested.

There are a number of open source mindmapping tools being worked on and
probably some proprietary ones, and it will be horrific if Natrificial is
able to stop any of these efforts in their tracks.

This patent has killer implications; it would be excellent if someone with
your profile would bring the discussion to a public forum, or issue a
statement, or whatever...

Me, I'm just a humble app builder trying to migrate from Windows to the
other side of the world.

Michael Simcich
AccessTools

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Natrificial (www.thebrain.com) has had a patent approved for their "Brain"
technology. It sounds like they are attempting to lock up the market for
dynamic mindmap-type interfaces. If this stands it's a very bad thing, IMHO.
This is an area that is just starting to open up, and a patent like this has
the potential to stifle ongoing and future interface innovation.

According to Natrificial's press release, dated March 7, the patent covers
The Brain's interface which "allows any piece of information to be linked
and accessed from multiple locations within the interface - giving users the
ability to retrieve and navigate data by association".

I use the Brain, I like it a lot. But I really, really, don't want
Natrificial to own a patent that will ultimately prevent or hinder similar
dynamic linking interfaces from being developed. If that's what the patent
is going to amount to it has the potential to impact the development of
computer interfaces in a very negative way, far exceeding the damages that
might be caused by the types of e-commerce related patents that Amazon has
been awarded (which are also a real bummer).

They are pursuing several other related patents too. Here is a part of their
press release:

"In recognition of the innovative and unique nature of TheBrain, the U.S.
Patent Office awarded Patent No. 6,031,537.  The patent is the first issued
of several filed by TheBrain.com.  Its issuance creates a significant
barrier to entry for companies considering developing similar technology and
solidifies TheBrain.com's position as the leading provider of visual
information environments."

Well, I don't think the rest of us are going to benefit if Natrificial's
corners the market for what seems to be a pretty basic navigational
technology.

What's most pitiful about it is that Natrificial, who has to be regarded as
the leader by miles in this arena, feels the compulsion to tie the hands and
feet of any potential competitors. They already field a great piece of
software, have no real competition that I'm aware of, and give no indication
that they are ready to start sitting on their laurels. They don't need to
resort to fits of legal possessiveness; they already rule the roost.

Using the Brain has been a liberating experience, but this kind of rubbish
really takes the fun out of it. I've been recommending The Brain to others
for a while but that's obviously going to change.

How broad a reach does a patent like this have? I haven't read it (or any
patents for that matter); I'm just hoping that someone else is up to speed
on this.
----------




Hugo Gayosso <hgayosso>
Group administrator

 

(Note: upload size limit is set to 16384 kB, after insertion of the required escape characters.)

No files currently attached

 

Depends on the following items: None found

Items that depend on this one: None found

 

CC list is empty

 

There are 0 votes so far. Votes easily highlight which items people would like to see resolved in priority, independently of the priority of the item set by tracker managers.

 

Follow 2 latest changes.

Date Changed by Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced by
2001-06-12 r4f start_date991800000
    end_date992145600

Back to the top

Powered by Savane 3.14-6db8.
Corresponding source code