I thought Ashton-Tates suit against Fox Software was based on that decision? That Dbase was based on JPLDIS and that Dbase III was based on Dbase II, et al.? I thought the court ruled that the copyright on Ashton-Tate's database program was invalid.
>Do you have references to it being rejected? I had not heard that until now.
>
>>Yes, Fox Software had applied for a patent. It was pending when purchased by Microsoft. Some years later the patent was rejected; it depended on too much "prior art". The technique used is known and has been incorporated into other products. The copyright would apply to the code that produces VFP -- if another implementation is created in a clean room (meaning no reverse engineering) then it is not a violation of copyright.
.·*´¨)
.·`TCH
(..·*
010000110101001101101000011000010111001001110000010011110111001001000010011101010111001101110100
"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser." - Socrates
Vita contingit, Vive cum eo. (Life Happens, Live With it.)
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." -- author unknown
"De omnibus dubitandum"
