diff --git a/content/2025-10-18-who-owns-yaml.rst b/content/2025-10-18-who-owns-yaml.rst
index b910666..3759d49 100644
--- a/content/2025-10-18-who-owns-yaml.rst
+++ b/content/2025-10-18-who-owns-yaml.rst
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ who owns yaml?
 
 **YAML is data, & data is not code.** Even when YAML expresses configuration logic, workflow definitions, or infrastructure-as-code, it remains a data serialization format. Data structures & formats are not patentable subject matter under established legal precedent - raw data, database schemas, & file formats are considered abstract ideas that lack the technical novelty required for patent protection. Attempting to patent data schemas or configuration formats creates barriers to interoperability & harms the open ecosystem that makes modern software development possible.
 
+**State machines are mathematics, not inventions.** Finite state machines, state transitions, & graph-based logic are fundamental computer science concepts - like algorithms & mathematical formulas - that exist in the public domain. You cannot patent the concept of a state machine any more than you can patent addition or the Pythagorean theorem. When you express state machine logic in YAML (defining states, transitions, & rules), you're describing mathematical relationships using a data format. The underlying concepts have been taught in computer science curricula for decades & represent shared human knowledge, not proprietary innovations.
+
 Let's find out what licenses actually govern the implementations.
 
 the question