Non-mathematical patents

Posted Jun 6, 2009 10:22 UTC (Sat) by man_ls (guest, #15091)
In reply to: Non-mathematical patents by Wol
Parent article: Donald Knuth: Mathematical Ideas, or Algorithms, Should Not Be Patented (Groklaw)

I don't see your point. If the trashcan patent is implemented on two separate desktops, they will contain different code, look different, and probably work differently in subtle ways too.

It works for most patents and algorithms: no two implementations of the RSA algorithm will be identical; computer language, variable names and so on will change. But even when using the same language independent coders will generate programs with wildly varying performance, accuracy, options, failure modes... Not to speak about the "computer on dashboard" patent -- independent implementations will be vastly different.

That is why patents are not just math; they can be expressed mathematically, sometimes and for some aspects, but quite often what is not math is the meat of the matter.