Re: zip chip schematic

["mdj" <mdj.mdj@gmail.com>]

> > (Would a patent issued in 1988 have run out already?  For the longest time,
> > patents were good for 17 years, but at some point, they switched to 20
> > years.  Even if the issued patent was for 20 years, it might already have
> > run out if the periodic maintenance fees weren't paid.  There's no
> > indication on the USPTO website of whether the ZipChip patent is still
> > valid.)

Not that it matters really, since if someone builds new zipchips based
on documents and schematics, they will be infringing on copyright.

Of course, if you built your own accelerator without the zip schematics
that operated on the same principles, you'd avoid copyright
infringement but still step on the patent (which it seems has expired)

Not that I want to discourage anyone from building zip clones, please
do, but do remember that such a product derived completely from zip
designs is at the end of the day pure plagiarism

Cheers,

Matt