Re: L5 algorithm patent, and free eval version

[Bruce Schneier <schneier@counterpane.com>]

At 03:42 PM 12/2/98 -0800, Chuck McManis wrote:
>At 09:46 PM 12/2/98 +0100, Anonymous wrote:
>>Now that L5 has been patented, will you and your colleagues at Jaws
>>Technology make the L5 algorithm details available to the professional
>>cryptography community for independant verification. Could you also
>>provide the Canadian and/or US patent numbers?
>
>L5 has NOT been patented. The company simply announced it had been
>"accepted" which is in itself a non-sequitor since patents aren't
>"accepted." My guess is that the patent was filled and the application was
>"allowed." This means that the information in the patent has passed the
>examiner's preliminary examination for fitness (which is to say it isn't
>one of the things that are disallowed by the patent office.) This actually
>doesn't mean SQUAT since thousands of patents get "allowed" and then
>"returned" because they don't meet more stringent tests such as
>non-obviousness, do what the claims say they do, restate prior art, etc,
>etc. However I do believe that disclosure at this point would be premature
>because some of the things that examiner may ask may require the patent be
>rewritten substantially. 

It could mean that a set of claims were allowed.  I have been involved in
several patents.  Generally, you submit the patent and then a year and a 
half later the patent office responds.  This is the "first office action."
Sometimes
the claims are rejeted, sometimes some of them are allowed.  Then you send
a letter back to the patent office, and maybe draft new claims.  Eventually
(there
may be a second office action) a series of claims are allowed, meaning that
they will be included in the patent.  It can be another six months before the
patent issues.

I expect that's what the L5 people were talking about.

Bruce
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