[throwaway64]

Replay from Intermernet who is dead:

Yes, but being inspired to write a similar book is now a grey area.

As a some-time composer / musician, I like to play around with existing themes and thus create new themes. Many of history's greatest musical pieces reference other pieces (J.S. Bach referenced traditional church pieces, Mussorgsky referenced many traditional folk songs, the list is probably endless), indeed the vast majority of popular music rarely strays from a handful of progressions around a limited palette of chords. Imagine if someone had managed to patent the 12 bar blues early on... No blues explosion, no Rock & Roll, no Elvis, no Beatles, etc. etc.

The argument that patents are for protecting original ideas is becoming more specious with time. It seems that the primary reason many companies now apply for patents is to either protect themselves from future patent cases, or, as is the case with IV, to prosecute any company or individual who tries to bring a similar idea to market.

[Intermernet]

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated"