Ask Slashdot: Using Code With an Expired Patent? 139
kruhft writes "I was recently doing some research into Genetic Programming and found a library through a blog post that looks to be useful. After looking over the code and license, I found that this was the first piece of code I had seen that was protected by a patent, issued on June 19, 1990. I read that patents last for 20 years, meaning that the patent that this code refers to is expired. Is there any way for me to be sure that using this code is safe from any patent troll attacks if I choose to use it? Would rewriting the code keep me from violating any other patents that the author might have regarding the use of such an algorithm? Does the code pass into the public domain after the patent expires?" Note to Chrome users: the above link ("a library") works for me in Firefox, but not in Chrome on Linux; YMMV.
Re:No (Score:5, Interesting)
Which turns the entire patent system on its head. The whole point of patents was to publish the invention so that people could look at it, decide if they wanted to use it (or find a way to compete with it) and then license it or go around it. All of this fosters innovation, since those that look at it and license it are quicker to market and those that compete increase competition.
The whole "treble damages for willful infringement" nonsense just proves that the patent in question was not a novel invention that couldn't have been easily copied by another design team without even looking. Because it just was copied by another design team without even looking. And why even publish patents if nobody is allowed to look at them? The whole point was that people would use the publications to get ideas of things to license. That's also why you were supposed to put your patent # on your useful invention, so that other people could know how to look it up.