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From: mlm@nl.cs.cmu.edu (Michael Mauldin)
Newsgroups: sci.crypt
Subject: Re: non-RSA public-key encryption systems
Message-ID: <12@nl.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Sun, 5-Jul-87 22:13:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: nl.12
Posted: Sun Jul  5 22:13:57 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 6-Jul-87 06:37:01 EDT
References: <8248@utzoo.UUCP>
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 23
Summary: Question about patenting algorithms


I have heard Michael Shamos of Unilogic (who is both a practicing
attorney and a PhD in Computer Science) lecture on copyrights, patents,
trade secrets and trademarks on several occasions.  Each time, he has
said that one cannot patent algorithms (at least in the US).  There is
an exclusion clause that says you cannot patent something that can be
done "with pencil and paper," so algorithms by themselves are not
protectable.

One way around this is to patent a system with an algorithm embedded in
it.  The system then enjoys patent protection.  So ROM code in firmware
is protected along with the rest of the device using it.

How does this relate to the legal status of RSA?  Is it just Rivest's
special purpose chip that is patented?  A particular setting of some of
the parameters?  Or are all exponentiation ciphers (M^e mod pq) protected?
I can find no mention in Denning82 "Cryptography and Data Security"
that the RSA scheme of public key encryption is patented.  Surely she
would have mentioned it.

Michael L. Mauldin (Fuzzy)		Department of Computer Science
ARPA: Michael.Mauldin@NL.CS.CMU.EDU	Carnegie-Mellon University
Phone: (412) 268-3065			Pittsburgh, PA  15213-3890