GATT and RSA

[rishab at dxm.ernet.in]

grendel at netaxs.com:
>         Anyone know how GATT would affect this, if passed? ABC News ran a 
> short blurb a few nights ago about how it contained intellectual property 
> provisions, and that patents would be honored worldwide. (?) What effect 
> would this have on the distribution of PGP, and other software that uses 
> RSAREF?

GATT doesn't say that the world has to adopt US patent laws. It insists on
the acceptance of certain categories of biotech and pharmaceutical patents,
but not algorithms or software. Nor does registering a global patent become
significantly easier - you still have to file (and pay for) patents in each
country you want to 'work' it. Filing first in PCT (Patent Coorporation
Treaty) signatories makes the process somewhat cheaper, that's all.

So GATT is unlikely to affect RSA.

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