R help - Aug 2003 - for those of you who want a patent...

Alvaro Munoz (Hopkins Epi) is patenting the "diamond graph". 

http://www.jhsph.edu/Press_Room/Press_Releases/Munoz_diamond_graph.html

There is enough prior art (hexagonal binning, among others) to make
this amusing, except that it probably will get a patent.  It's a reasonable
graphical technique, but patentable?

best,
-tony

-- 
A.J. Rossini     			
rossini at u.washington.edu            http://www.analytics.washington.edu/ 
Biomedical and Health Informatics   University of Washington
Biostatistics, SCHARP/HVTN          Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
UW   :              FAX=206-543-3461 | moving soon to a permanent office
FHCRC: 206-667-7025 FAX=206-667-4812 | Voicemail is pretty sketchy/use Email

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On Tue, 19-Aug-2003 at 09:41AM -0700, A.J. Rossini wrote:

|> 
|> Alvaro Munoz (Hopkins Epi) is patenting the "diamond graph". 
|> 
|> http://www.jhsph.edu/Press_Room/Press_Releases/Munoz_diamond_graph.html
|> 

|> There is enough prior art (hexagonal binning, among others) to make
|> this amusing, except that it probably will get a patent.  It's a
|> reasonable graphical technique, but patentable?

Maybe so.  I read a story once that the idea of using different
colours to annotate a word processor document is patented.  This one
sounds at least as original, though not as original as a sunflower
plot.

Reckon I'll stick to contour plots rather than pay a licensing fee for
diamond graphs.  

[thinks.... maybe the way I use contour plots is unique ... maybe I
should bung in a patent application]


-- 
Patrick Connolly
HortResearch
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