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jjlphoto wrote:
Cableaddict wrote:
Even if so, reverse-engineering is still patent infringement.
Reverse engineering is not patent infringement if done to insure compatibility .
Yes, it is. I asked my old patent lawyer today, as this has been bugging me.
This is why Apogee electronics could not, for many years, sell a daughter card that would let recording studios connect the Apogee digital converter to Digidesign's Protools hardware. (the industry standard DAW platform and a huge profit potential for Apogee.
Apogee actually designed the daughter card (strictly designed for compatibility and having no other function) and listed it for sale, but Digi's lawyers stopped them cold. The Apogee was significantly superior to the Digidesign converter, at very little extra cost. Digi had to go after them, no matter what the legal costs.
Also note mawz' post stating that Canon has licensed the EF mount to Kodak. If the technology could be licensed, then they hold a patent on it. -Or t least they did at that time.
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