Posted by PakProtector [ 64.12.116.132 ] on January 11, 2006 at 16:10:05:
In Reply to: legalities of reverse engineering posted by manualblock on January 10, 2006 at 21:55:49:
some nice parts:
"the competitive reality of reverse engineering may act as a spur to the inventor, creating an incentive to develop inventions that meet the rigorous requirements of patentability."
and this one:
the first sale doctrine in patent law, which allows a purchaser of a product on the open market to use it and even take it apart
and this one:
Since there is no time limitation on its enforceability, trade secrets can potentially provide eternal protection for software. Trade secrets terminate and become public domain information if they are publicly disclosed for any reason, however, including the widespread publication of the information on the Internet. Reverse engineering and independent discovery of the technical information within a product s are considered legally viable means of ending another's trade secret, provided that the product is obtained lawfully.
Seems pretty straight forward to me. Always good to see that I have indeed paid for good advice.
cheers,
Douglas
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