[ShadowAce]

If you copy your code directly from someone else's code for application to a particular process, the Supreme Court would suggest you have violated someone else's patent copyright.

Fixed it for you.

[muawiyah]

Supreme Court did the unthinkable and approved "patents", not just "copyrights".

This is ancient stuff.

[muawiyah]

Think of "code" as an instructional data set used to guide the operation of a machine. A "copy" is not really the issue. Instead, the machine operation is the issue, and that sort of thing has always been considered to be eligible for a "design patent".

Not looking up the decision at the moment I believe they used the word "patent", and not simply "design patent".

[muawiyah]

Remember, though, I'm not a patent attorney ~ just worked with a couple of them for 20 years in my 4 decade long career.

Their lunchtime lectures were always quite illuminating. Made the bizarre seem unbelievable.