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DCSB: Ira Heffan and Mike Schmelzer; "Software Patents" and Digital Commerce


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Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 13:02:59 -0500
To: [email protected], [email protected]
From: Robert Hettinga <[email protected]>
Subject: DCSB: Ira Heffan and Mike Schmelzer; "Software Patents" and
 Digital Commerce
Cc: Ira Heffan <[email protected]>, Mike Schmelzer <[email protected]>,
        Roland Mueller <[email protected]>,
        "Jonathan J. Rusch" <[email protected]>
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Reply-To: Robert Hettinga <[email protected]>

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          The Digital Commerce Society of Boston

                       Presents

              Ira Heffan and Mike Schmelzer
             Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP

         "Software Patents" and Digital Commerce



                Tuesday, January 5th, 1999
                       12 - 2 PM
             The Downtown Harvard Club of Boston
               One Federal Street, Boston, MA



Although the very idea of patenting software seems to be an anathema to much
of the programming community, patents on software continue to stream out of
the U.S. Patent Office.  Everyone involved in digital commerce applications,
which are by definition software-based, probably has heard about recent
events:  The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided "State Street
Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group," which explicitly ratified
patenting methods of doing business, and a spate of well-publicized patents
have issued claiming to cover such concepts as the virtual shopping cart and
the reverse auction.  As a prerequisite to discussing these recent
developments, the first part of our talk will provide an introduction to
patents.  We will explain what patents are and what they are not, and
describe the business goals that a patent can serve.  Then we will talk
about current events, and attempt to  put the _State Street_ case in
context.  We will present a survey of recently-issued patents (suggestions
welcome) related to digital commerce, and conclude with some speculation
about current trends, including a novel form of software patent with
potentially huge implications.

Ira Heffan ([email protected]) and Mike Schmelzer ([email protected]) are patent
attorneys at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP (http://www.tht.com).  We will
be presenting our own personal views on this topic, and not the views of
Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP or its clients.


This meeting of the Digital Commerce Society of Boston will be held on
Tuesday, January 5, 1999, from 12pm - 2pm at the Downtown Branch of
the Harvard Club of Boston, on One Federal Street. The price for lunch
is $32.50. This price includes lunch, room rental, various A/V hardware,
and the speakers' lunch.  The Harvard Club *does* have dress code:
jackets and ties for men (and no sneakers or jeans), and "appropriate
business attire" (whatever that means), for women.  Fair warning: since
we purchase these luncheons in advance, we will be unable to refund the
price of your lunch if the Club finds you in violation of the dress
code.


We need to receive a company check, or money order, (or, if we
*really* know you, a personal check) payable to "The Harvard Club of
Boston", by Saturday, January 2nd, or you won't be on the list for
lunch.  Checks payable to anyone else but The Harvard Club of Boston
will have to be sent back.

Checks should be sent to Robert Hettinga, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston,
Massachusetts, 02131. Again, they *must* be made payable to "The
Harvard Club of Boston", in the amount of $32.50. Please include your
e-mail address, so that we can send you a confirmation

If anyone has questions, or has a problem with these arrangements
(We've had to work with glacial A/P departments more than once, for
instance), please let us know via e-mail, and we'll see if we can work
something out.


Upcoming speakers for DCSB are:

February   Roland Mueller   European Privacy Directive
March      Jonathan Rusch   Internet Fraud

We are actively searching for future speakers.  If you are in Boston
on the first Tuesday of the month, and you would like to make a
presentation to the Society, please send e-mail to the DCSB Program
Commmittee, care of Robert Hettinga, <mailto: [email protected]>.


For more information about the Digital Commerce Society of Boston,
send "info dcsb" in the body of a message to <mailto:
[email protected]> . If you want to subscribe to the DCSB e-mail
list, send "subscribe dcsb" in the body of a message to <mailto:
[email protected]> .

We look forward to seeing you there!

Cheers,
Robert Hettinga
Moderator,
The Digital Commerce Society of Boston


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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [email protected]>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

For help on using this list (especially unsubscribing), send a message to
"[email protected]" with one line of text: "help".

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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [email protected]>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'