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Cyphernomicon 10.15

Legal Issues:
Patents and Copyrights


  10.15.1. The web of patents
           - what happens is that everyone doing anything substantive
              spends much of his time and money seeking patents
           - patents are essential bargaining chips in dealing with
              others
           - e.g., DSS, Schnorr, RSADSI, etc.
           - e.g., Stefan Brands is seeking patents
           - Cylink suing...
  10.15.2. Role of RSA, Patents, etc.
           + Bidzos: "If you make money off RSA, we make money" is the
              simple rule
             - but of course it goes beyond this, as even "free" uses
                may have to pay
           - Overlapping patents being used (apparently) to extent the
              life of the portfolio
           + 4/28/97   The first of several P-K and RSA patents expires
             + U.S. Patent Number: 4200770
               - Title: Cryptographic Apparatus and Method
               - Inventors: Hellman, Diffie, Merkle
               - Assignee: Stanford University
               - Filed: September 6, 1977
               - Granted: April 29, 1980
               - [Expires: April 28, 1997]
             + remember that any one of these several patents held by
                Public Key Partners (Stanford and M.I.T., with RSA Data
                Security the chief dispenser of licenses) can block an
                effort to bypass the others
               - though this may get fought out in court
           + 8/18/97   The second of several P-K and RSA patents expires
             + U.S. Patent Number: 4218582
               - Title: Public Key Cryptographic Apparatus and Method
               - Inventors: Hellman, Merkle
               - Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford
                  Junior University
               - Filed: October 6, 1977
               - Granted: August 19, 1980
               - [Expires: August 18, 1997]
             - this may be disputed because it describe algortihms in
                broad terms and used the knapsack algorithm as the chief
                example
           + 9/19/00   The main RSA patent expires
             + U.S. Patent Number: 4405829
               - Title: Cryptographic Communications System and Method
               - Inventors: Rivest, Shamir, Adleman
               - Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
               - Filed: December 14, 1977
               - Granted: September 20, 1983
               - [Expires: September 19, 2000]
  10.15.3. Lawsuits against RSA patents
           + several are brewing
             - Cylink is suing (strange rumors that NSA was involved)
             - Roger Schlafly
  10.15.4. "What about the lawsuit filed by Cylink against RSA Data
            Security Inc.?"
           - Very curious, considering they are both part of Public Key
              Partners, the consortium of Stanford, MIT, Cylink, and RSA
              Data Security Inc. (RSADSI)
           - the suit was filed in the summer of 1994
           + One odd rumor I heard, from a reputable source, was that
              the NSA had asked PKP to do something (?) and that Cylink
              had agreed, but RSADSI had refused, helping to push the
              suit along
             - any links with the death threats against Bidzos?
  10.15.5. "Can the patent system be used to block government use of
            patents for purposes we don't like?"
           - Comes up especially in the context of S. Micali's patent on
              escrow techniques
           - "Wouldn't matter. The government can't be enjoined from
              using a patent. The federal government, in the final
              analysis, can use any patent they want, without permission,
              and the only recourse of the patent owner is to sue for
              royalties in the Court of Claims." [Bill Larkins,
              talk.politics.crypto, 1994-07-14]


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