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1798 points jerryX | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.203s | source
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lkdjjdjjjdskjd ◴[] No.18567264[source]
It could just be people independently working on the same things, as is common in technology.
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TheDong ◴[] No.18567417[source]
For the purpose of a patent, that doesn't help.

"Independent creation" is a valid defense for copyright, but not for patents.

Something cannot be patented if prior art exists before the filing of the patent. It doesn't matter if you knew about it. Even if you can prove that the prior art is not something you were aware of at the time you filed for a patent, your patent is invalid.

That's how patents are supposed to work; inventions must be "non-obvious" to the point where no one else has ever created it nor described it before on the entire planet.

If google knows that someone else has created such things (as they must have after said visit), the only responsible thing to do is not file a patent, regardless of if they independently worked on it.

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1. pnw_hazor ◴[] No.18571497[source]
Utility patents protect how you do something not what you do.

There are innumerable ways to implement an electronic book each novel and non-obvious way could qualify for its own patent.