Federal Identity Program violates patents?

From: Russell McOrmond <russell _-at-_ flora.ca>
To: CANadian OPENsource Education and Research <discuss (at) canopener.ca>, General Copyright Discussions <discuss (at) digital-copyright.ca>
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 12:15:14 -0500 (EST)

  In what could be a very amusing situation, the Government of Canada may
be violating "yet another questionable patent" with their Federal Identity
Program (FIP).  FIP, in conjunction with the Common Look and Feel (CLF),
define what government of Canada sites are intended to look like, and how
they are to navigate.


  In the FIPS "Sample Layout Grids", they demonstrate a layout showing
buttons on a left column that are intended to be kept for every page:
  http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/si-si/fip-pcim/7.1/51_e.html#3


  While I don't believe this patent has any merit (along with most 
patents, and especially any business model or software patents), this type 
of layout appears to be covered under "US Patent no. 5,933,841 entitled 
``Stuctured Document Browser''".


  Maybe it will be the FIPS folks that will finally talk to the
Intellectual Property Policy Directorate
<http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ip00001e.html> to get them to clarify
patentability such that this type of patent nonsense will not apply to
Canada.


Bogus patent is at:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5,933,841.WKU.&OS=PN/5,933,841&RS=PN/5,933,841

---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 Any 'hardware assist' for communications, whether it be eye-glasses, 
 VCR's, or personal computers, must be under the control of the citizen 
 and not a third party.   -- http://www.flora.ca/russell/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 15:49:32 +0100
From: Bernard Lang 
To: patents@liberte.aful.org
Subject: [Patents] trivial use of frames is patented



SBC Communications claims they own Patent on Internal links and Includes,
threatens to sue the little guys first, then move to the big guys.  

We received a 40 page package from SBC Intellectual Property today
informing us that our web site - which has links on the left side that go
to other web pages within the site - but does not lose the left side
navigation links - was in violation of their  ?Structured Document Browser?
Patent. 


see http://www.museumtour.com/sbclawsuit.html



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