> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marian POPESCU [mailto:softexpert@libertysurf.fr]
> Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 8:06 AM
> To: pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org
> Subject: Re: [HACKERS] ARC patent
>
> >>>Neil Conway <neilc@samurai.com> writes:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>FYI, IBM has applied for a patent on ARC (AFAICS the
> >>>>patent application is still pending, although the USPTO
> >>>>site is a little hard to grok):
> >>>
> >>>Ugh. We could hope that the patent wouldn't be granted,
> >>>but I think it unlikely, unless Jan is aware of prior art
> >>>(like a publication predating the filing date). I fear we'll
> >>>have to change or remove that code.
Why not just ask IBM for a free license first? After all, they put
1,000+ patents in the public domain or something, didn't they? I
realize that they might use this technology in DB2, and don't want
to encourage competitors. But IBM seems a lot more friendly to OSS
than most companies, and it doesn't seem like it would hurt to ask.
At the worst they say "no" and you just proceed as you would have
originally.
__
David B. Held
Software Engineer/Array Services Group
200 14th Ave. East, Sartell, MN 56377
320.534.3637 320.253.7800 800.752.8129