Comments on: Microsoft’s file system patent upheld: ZDNet Australia: News: Software http://www.flamingspork.com/blog/2006/01/11/microsofts-file-system-patent-upheld-zdnet-australia-news-software-2/ Ramblings which occasionally resemble reality. This is the blog of Stewart Smith. Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:19:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Leon Brooks http://www.flamingspork.com/blog/2006/01/11/microsofts-file-system-patent-upheld-zdnet-australia-news-software-2/comment-page-1/#comment-26101 Leon Brooks Wed, 11 Jan 2006 07:44:50 +0000 http://www.flamingspork.com/blog/2006/01/11/microsofts-file-system-patent-upheld-zdnet-australia-news-software-2/#comment-26101 FAT is based diirectly on the CP/M-80, CP/M-68k and CP/M-86 filesystems, and shares many features in the layout of the directory entires (basically a CP/M-80 FCB image on disk) as a result of that. Gary Kildall, Intergalactic Digital Research and co should have prior art. Also, DR-DOS is a parallel implementation of FAT, and has existed without complaint from Microsoft for 19 years. I don't see how Microsoft could be granted a patent on FAT in the face of that. FAT is based diirectly on the CP/M-80, CP/M-68k and CP/M-86 filesystems, and shares many features in the layout of the directory entires (basically a CP/M-80 FCB image on disk) as a result of that. Gary Kildall, Intergalactic Digital Research and co should have prior art.

Also, DR-DOS is a parallel implementation of FAT, and has existed without complaint from Microsoft for 19 years. I don’t see how Microsoft could be granted a patent on FAT in the face of that.

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