Algorithms aren't patentable. What's patented here is a specific circuit that implements this algorithm in order to calculate the average in a single instruction cycle.
I disagree. Not all the claims include the “single instruction cycle,” and IMO several of the claims are general enough that one could make a case that a sequence of instructions directing the operation of a general purpose data path would be covered by the claim. (Claim 3, for example).
this would require a lawsuit to find out, but this wording in the description suggests the authors’ intent with the claims was to patent this method of computing an average on any processor:
> A general purpose computer or processor with suitable circuitry can execute the invention in a single instruction cycle (as is preferred) or multiple instruction cycles.
Algorithms are not meant to be patentable, per alice[0], but that does not mean they are not patentable in practice. The theoretical intent of what is patentable certainly differs from what is enforcible as a patent in practice.
LZW compression[1] was patented, and Unisys actually had success extracting license fees with it[2]. In that sense, clearly an algorithm was "patented enough" that the patent was granted and used, even though the patent is literally just math. The MP3 patent is also just a mathematical algorithm which had even more legal success.
So, while technically algorithms are not patentable, in reality, the USPTO will grant patents for algorithms if you write enough legal gunk around them, and the difference doesn't really matter when a patent troll is sending threatening emails and your lawyers are demanding 20x the licensing fee to take the case.
Yeah you're right, it seems like the article is misleading. Still, unless I'm reading it wrong it seems like the patent is just describing the hardware translation of this algorithm, it's not really adding anything new. It's still dubious to me.
Yeah, isn't the translation to a circuit even more trivial than the algorithm itself? a / 2 and b / 2 just discard bits. a & b & 1 is just an and of the two low bits. Then we just route those values to an adder (with carry).
Any algorithm directly expressible as an electronic circuit is considered patentable in most countries due to this equivalence relationship. Technically, this includes all computing algorithms in practice, since there is no meaningful distinction between software and hardware.
However, this is also why business method algorithms like the Amazon "One-Click" are not patentable in most countries. There is no trivial theoretical equivalence between one-click shopping and an electronic circuit.
Edit: but back in the 70s the USPTO didn't have the search databases they had in the 90s or 2000s. It's more the XOR patent being wielded in litigation that was extra controversial
this would require a lawsuit to find out, but this wording in the description suggests the authors’ intent with the claims was to patent this method of computing an average on any processor:
> A general purpose computer or processor with suitable circuitry can execute the invention in a single instruction cycle (as is preferred) or multiple instruction cycles.