Base-two artihmetic sounds pretty broad. If only you could come up with a
scheme for division and multiplication by powers of two through
bitshifting.....
On Wed, 26 Nov 2003, Tom Lane wrote:
> Randolf Richardson <rr@8x.ca> writes:
> >> They've managed to patent ye olde elevator algorithm?? The USPTO really
> >> is without a clue, isn't it :-(
>
> > It's not the USPTO's fault -- the problem is that nobody objected to it
> > while it was in the "Patent Pending" state.
>
> If their examiner had even *minimal* competency in the field, it would
> not have gotten to the "Patent Pending" state. Algorithms that are well
> documented in the standard textbooks of thirty years ago do not qualify
> as something people should have to stand guard against.
>
> Perhaps I should try to patent base-two arithmetic, and hope no one
> notices till it goes through ... certainly the USPTO won't notice ...
>
> regards, tom lane
>
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