Patents and trade secrets was: Encryption algorithms used in PrivaSoft

[Futplex]

David Van Wie writes:
> It just moves the prior art date from the date of invention to the date 
> of filing the patent application.

.pm writes:
> Can you explain that? It doesn't make much sense...

I'll ask a more specific question:

What happens if the chronology goes like this ?

(0) Alice invents a snaffleblort.
(1) Bob invents a snaffleblort.
(2) Bob files for a patent on a snaffleblort.

>From what you said, it would appear that Alice's prior art won't count when
it comes to considering the validity of Bob's patent claim. Is that correct ?

-Futplex <futplex at pseudonym.com>