17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
On Wed, 17 Dec 1997, Adam Shostack wrote:
Jim Burnes wrote:
| > http://jya.com/ellisdoc.htm | | Can patents be revoked due to prior art arguments?
I think its a really bad precedent to revoking patents based on the basis of secret documents released after the fact. If you believe in patents, then having your work nullifiable by government claims is a bad idea.
I was not advocating that they should be revoked, just curious as to whether they could be. But your analysis makes sense. It would be simple for the government, within the context of the secrets act, to simply crank out phony secrets and destroy the financial viability of companies they don't like. Interesting.... Jim