Item Subject: cc:Mail Text
This bizarre story was reported on c|net's NEWS.COM this afternoon:

        Aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas has received a patent for a
        software technique called "windowing" that is used to fix computer
        code and has handed the patent over to the technique's inventor.

        Lawyers for inventor Bruce Dickens are reportedly threatening legal
        action to enforce payments from Fortune 500 companies that have
        used software fixes based on the now-patented technology.

The story is at
        http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1009-200-1426450.html

No word is given regarding the patent date.

(I thought patents were for "non-obvious" designs and techniques!)

--Glenn