Sun patents Friends,

Ray Moore writes: 
> As a result of my previous email to this group, I have been contacted by
> John Busch of Sun Microsystems, and informed that anyone with specific
> concerns about Sun's interval patents should contact him at
> John.Busch@sun.com

I second that.  Dialog is healthy.

What follows is my personal opinion.  I am a university researcher, not a
patent attorney.  Nor do I speak for Sun in any sense.

In SunÂ¹s opinion, the patents issued and applications pending are new.  On
reading them, I see little I recognize as new, but the US patent system is
not well equipped to tell the difference.  Even if the patents are
questionable, it is in SunÂ¹s commercial interests to apply for them,
especially before some other company does.  Sun has proven itself to be a
friend of the interval community by offering commercial quality interval
tools and by modest support for interval research projects, including some
of my own (in the interest of full disclosure).

In my opinion, the academic research community has little to fear from SunÂ¹s
patent activities; our research helps drive their sales.  Other firms who
stand to make a profit from interval technologies (in our dreams, that is a
non-empty set) are well advised to discuss things with Sun.  I would HOPE,
and I believe, that Sun has the wisdom to welcome such overtures as partners
rather than competitors.  For example, I know of one funding proposal for
interval research pending in Britain with letters of support from both NAG
and Sun.

Again in my opinion, academic researchers are well advised to learn more
about issues of intellectual property.  Our STUDENTS need a basic
understanding, because the business that employ our students may live or die
by intellectual property.  Further, seeking intellectual property protection
for some of our OWN work can, in some cases, be a more successful path to
research funding than more traditional governmental funding requests.

Dr. George F. Corliss
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Marquette University
PO Box 1881 
1515 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee WI 53201-1881 USA
414-288-6599; Fax: 288-5579; Dept. 288-6280
Office: Haggerty Engineering 296
George.Corliss@Marquette.edu




