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> Sergey Brin and Larry Page came up with this precise algorithm, i.e., PageRank, which was one of the key algorithms that helped catapult Google into a househo
by CalChris 21d ago
> Sergey Brin and Larry Page came up with this precise algorithm, i.e., PageRank, which was one of the key algorithms that helped catapult Google into a household name and made them tons of money. Both Sergey and Larry were grad students at Stanford, so their coming up with such an amazing algorithm doesn’t seem surprising.
No, Brin wasn’t a co-inventor of PageRank.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US7058628B1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US7058628B1/en
- Kranar 21d agoInventor in the context of a U.S. patent has a very narrow and technical meaning, different from the broader concept of "coming up with something." Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed PageRank together as grad students in Stanford's Digital Library Project, led by Hector Garcia-Molina. This is simply undisputable and both are listed as co-authors of the PageRank paper [1]. The list of inventors on a patent, especially nowadays, should not be seen as a historical finding about credit. [1] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-PageRank-Citation-Ranking-%3A-Bringing-Order-to-Page-Brin/eb82d3035849cd23578096462ba419b53198a556 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-PageRank-Citation-...
- pcrh 21d agoInventorship of patents has a clear legal basis, and is quite different from the basis of scientific authorship. The system disincentifies adding "ghost" inventors since incorrect listing of the inventors can invalidate a patent. So, yes, it's likely that the patent attorneys hired by Stanford advised that only Page should be listed as an inventor. Stanford gets its money via the assignment, not the inventor list.
- srean 21d agoIf I recall correctly, it was for course project for the class taught by late Rajeev Motwani. Not contradicting your comment, adding more context.