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]
By Tim May, see README
HTML by Jonathan Rochkind