source file: m1454.txt
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 18:34:18 +0000

Subject: Re: Patent Alert - Microsoft owns computer composition?

From: Gary Morrison <mr88cet@texas.net>

Benjamin Tubb wrote:
> In short, his musical programming background and
> development over the years makes him imminently qualified for getting a patent
> regardless of his current affiliation with Microsoft whose "Music Producer" is
> their latest product similar to the former "Audio Tracks Pro" program.

   Thanks for the background there;  I was not aware of that.

   Still, I think it's fair to say that the concern here is not the
inventor (Tudor Fay), but the consignee (Microsoft).  It's important to
understand that patents are not defensive in nature, as they are often
thought of.  Patents give their holders OFFENSIVE legal rights.  A
former employee claimed - probably accurately best I can tell - that in
the early 1990 Texas Instruments' most profitable department was their
legal department.  They generated a lot of revenue from prosecuting
patent violators.  

   I think it's pretty clear from what I read of this, that the target
application is computer games, but let's imagine for a moment that some
garage inventor comes up with a cool program for realtime harmony
generation.  It becomes popular enough to catch Microsoft's attention. 
At that point, Microsoft will probably have the opportunity to take over
that garage inventor's product and company practically for free.