Can copying a CD onto a hard drive be patentable? Samsung of Korea thinks so and is hoping the US Patent Office will grant it rights to a system which does just this.
Samsung reasons that after people have installed new hardware such as a colour printer or modem on a PC they often mislay the installation CD that comes with it. This isn’t a problem unless the computer crashes and the software has to be reinstalled. In US patent application 2004/6766, Samsung proposes software that automatically stores a back-up of the installation CD for just such occasions.
