On Sunday 15 March 2009 12:13:05 Vaughan Pratt wrote:

> It will be interesting to see what the patent office decides about his
> software patent: this may be USPTO's first exposure to an O(n^19)
> algorithm. (It's certainly mine -- the wildly impractical O(n^12)
> deterministic (and correct) primality tester from Aslam's three
> compatriots is still a far cry from O(n^19), and has come down
> considerably since, though not enough to compete in practical
> applications with nondeterministic Pratt certificates, which require
> time only O(n^2 log^2(n)) to check.)
<snip>
>
> That he submitted an algorithm to the patent office that is obviously of
> no practical use would suggest he is delusional, were it not for the
> fact that he takes care himself to point out how useless it is. This is
> why I'm so curious as to USPTO's reaction -- one can imagine their
> rejection letter starting out, "We appreciate your candor."

I know quite a bit about the kind of patents granted by USPTO. They may grant
it and people may need to fight patent trolls with "non-deterministic Pratt
certificates" :)

Best

A. Mani



--
A. Mani
Member, Cal. Math. Soc

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