I never thought patents should be given for software. We had copyright laws for software. Device on boards now are programable and it is harder to separate hardward and software.

How hard is it to prove a patent violation of software? If two people write software using different methods to achieve a similar result, is that a violation?

The key fact is that AN IDEA CANNOT BE PATENTED.

If you found a great way to do something and no one else can do it as good or better doing it a different way, then you hit the jackpot. Micro OS (combined with specific hardware) greatly improves battery life.

The problem is that other ways may be equally affective and will not violate our patent, A cruel fact is that MicroOS has been around for years and you do not see people wearing a path to our office to buy it. What is in MicroOS CONTROLLER is our patent to read and write flash and I have no idea what else.

DM does! And, that is why I still have faith that patents will pay us off handsomely.