Re: ARC patent

Andrew Sullivan wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 17, 2005 at 03:14:31AM -0500, Tom Lane wrote:
> > I don't think it needs to delay the release; the patent is only pending.
> > But we need to look into the problem.
>
> What will you do if the patent is granted, 8.0 is out there with the
> offending code, and you get a cease-and-desist letter from IBM
> demanding the removal of all offending code from the Net? The code
> would have to be yanked from CVS &c., in that case, no? (IANAL, but
> I think I may consult with one.)

We can modify the code slightly to hopefully avoid the patent. With the
US granting patents on even obvious ideas, I would think that most large
software projects, including commercial ones, already have tons of
patent violations in their code. Does anyone think otherwise?

However, I will grant that ARC is not an obvious idea.

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