Z:gnu-www-ja-danger-of-software-patents--9c012e-What you might try to do is fi/en

What you might try to do is find out all the ideas that are patented that might be in your program. Now you can't do that actually, because patent applications are kept secret for at least eighteen months; and the result is the Patent Office could be considering now whether to issue a patent, and they won't tell you. And this is not just an academic, theoretical possibility.