RC4 compatibility testing

[Perry E. Metzger]

Hal says:
> "Perry E. Metzger" <perry at imsi.com> writes:
> 
> >A "submarine" patent application would have been made before the
> >public use.
> 
> I'm not familiar with this term, "submarine" patent application.

Basically, what you do is use administrative tricks to delay the
patent from being issued for as many years as possible -- sometimes
decades -- while the idea becomes popular and gets incorporated into
lots of products. Patent applications in the U.S. are kept secret by
law. Then, the patent finally gets granted -- resulting in lots of
people suddenly finding that the product they've been building for
many years is now patented by someone -- retroactively making them
liable for fat juicy license fees.

Another trick is to have the patent delayed by a secrecy order...

Perry