RC4 compatibility testing

[Phil Karn]

>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

FYI, there's a bill pending in the Senate that would change the term
of a US patent from 17 years from grant to 20 years from filing.  The
specific intent is to deal with "submarine" patents.

I understand it has already become quite controversial...

Phil