intellectual-property ownership
If a computer program qualifies as &quot;orphaned technology&quot; can it be recreated and sold legally?
<p>Particularly MSBOB otherwise known as Microsoft Bob. Can I legally recreate and sell it? And if so are than any restrictions present?</p>

<p>Please no comments about "Why you recreate such a piece of junk?"</p>

<p>"Orphaned technology" is not a legal term, it's a technical one, so normal IP law continues to apply. For software this is usually copyright but patent law may also be relevant.</p>

<p>In general, copyright in anything created since the 1980s is still in existence and will be until the middle of this century at least. So, without permission you cannot copy the code or the "look and feel" of the program. Since there is no IP in ideas, you <em>can</em> recreate the functionality so long as it doesn't look the same.</p>
