Re: [boost] Interval Trees & ICL

Subject: Re: [boost] Interval Trees & ICL
From: Thomas Klimpel (Thomas.Klimpel_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-12-20 11:24:35

Joachim Faulhaber wrote:
> Can something that is published by Tropf 1981 be patented by Tropf 2004?

IANAL

How about this scenario (purely hypothetical):
Tropf applied for a patent in 1980.
The patent application took longer than expected, and Tropf published something more or less closely related in 1981.
The patent was finally granted in 2004.

So it looks to me as if under these circumstances, the patent would be valid. The publication from 1981 would not qualify as prior art, not because it is written by the same author, but because it was published later. But I have to admit that it occurs unlikely to me that it took 20 years until a patent was granted.

Regards,
Thomas