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from The LPF at Fall COMDEX 1993 or "Somtimes Everything Happens All at Once" By: Chris Hofstader
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1993 17:48:06 -0500
COMPTON'S ENCYCLOPEDIA PATENT On the morning of the second day of Fall COMDEX 1993 Compton's Enctclopedia announced that they had been granted a patent that covers virtually all multi-media applications and definately all applications that search a CD-ROM. They also announced that they plan on aggresively prosecuting this patent and that to license their technology companies would have to pay 1% to 3% of total corporate revenue. People who we spoke to who attended the press conference reported that it was the most hostile reception that they'd ever seen at a COMDEX press event. After only four or five very angry questions from the press the Compton's representatives reportedly refused to take any more questions and stormed off the stage, ending the press conference at about 10:30 am. By Tuesday at noon rumors of this announcement were spreading around the convention like wildfire. Questions like "Could this really happen?" and "Is the patent office really that dumb?" where everywhere. Everyone was looking for corporate comment. Also around noon of that day the first questions were coming into the LPF booth. The first we heard of it was when I was asked in the booth by a reporter "What's the LPF reaction to Compton's?" I asked what Compton's was and he explained. This was very big and we did what we could to find out more about the patent and to respond. Paul Ruben stayed up all night and drafted a statement which Steve McElroy circulated the following day. It expressed our opposition to the patent and invited people to our booth to learn more about the patent issue in general. Throughout the rest of the week Compton's was a main topic of conversation in meetings that I held with people from industry and the press. It felt for the first time that almost everyone was coming around o the LPF position. WordPerfect execs stated to me that WP plans on fighting the patent and that it was important for the industry to unify against Compton's. Bill Gates announced that Microsoft plans to fight this to the end. In a call for industry unity Gates also suggested that Microsoft would help all defendants with financial and legal assistance in any suit brought on by Compton's. Lotus, as per tradition, reared their ugly head again. They announced that they support the patent and that they negotiated a permanent license to the technology with Compton's. Lotus reportedly has payed $50 million dollars for this license or approximately ten times 1% of their total corporate earnings! Back in the LPF booth the sentiment against software patents among the convention attendees seemed to be stronger than ever before.
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- from The LPF at Fall COMDEX 1993 or "Somtimes Everything Happens All at Once" By: Chris Hofstader David Farber (Dec 02)