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118 Comments
- Toon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+123Okay, Dave, here's what I need. You know sandwiches, right?
Sure, they're delicious.
Well, I want to patent them. I'm going to need you to write me 55 pages on how to make a sandwich.
55 pages, sir? It's a sandwich. Even Ayn Rand couldn't draw it out that long.
Nonsense, Dave. Make it good. Also, I want to be the hero. Make me fight a dinosaur with my bare hands inside the sandwich.
The patent office won't accept that. And that doesn't even make sense.
I don't care what the patent office will accept. I'm also going to need to have sex with Carmen Electra somewhere in there. You know, show her some of my own Secret Sauce.
I quit. I hate you. - AmishRefugee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+71think outside the bun, dude.
"Garnishes of lettuce, onions and tomatoes, as well as salt, pepper and ketchup, are inserted into a cavity in a 'sandwich delivery tool'."
i almost can't believe this isn't a joke - chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -1/+52they are not patenting the sandwich just the way they make it (so people can't copy it I guess)
- paulbobrookins, on 10/12/2007, -9/+35That is true. The title of this story is misleading. They aren't patenting "the sandwich", but merely patenting their own specific sandwiches. One purpose of this would be to prevent another company from duplicating any of the exact sandwiches that McDonald's makes, and selling them as their own products. Something as widespread as the sandwich is not legally patentable. That would be like trying to patent "pants".
- jmontes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Apparently there is too much variation in the cardboard flavor.
- banjokazooie, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21This is so odd. I thought I may have just witnessed the stupidest thing ever yesterday (stupid people + alchohol = fun), but this takes the cake. Friggin impossible. I hope Ronald chokes on a Rueben and dies.
- darkened, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18I'll beat you all, i'll trade mark the word THE.
- webwormx, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18Hey, look at these other exciting stories on the same site:
Zombies Sue Police: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=26579&in_page_id=2
Jesus Found in Cement Floor:
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=26682&in_page_id=2
More proof that 90% of diggers are morons.
Bury as lame. The submitter is intentionally trolling and you suckers are falling for it. - pseudojd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16I eat nothing with an EULA unless it's so hot I might die.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14there aren't that many ways of making a sandwich
- m0laria, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11"The burger company says owning the 'intellectual property rights' would help its hot deli sandwiches look and taste the same at all of its restaurants."
They don't already? And since when has anyone ever considered a McDonalds sandwich a "hot deli sandwich"? - IMustBeEmo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Well, if they patent the sandwich, they're going to have to start using real food before we start infringing patents at home.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13why dont they paten the word "Fat Ass" while they're at it
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8MacDonalds owns "Pret a Manger", a chain in Europe that makes hot deli sandwiches.
And you do realize that McDonalds menus vary by country, right? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9You can't patent a word! Apparently, you can patent the delivery method, though. As such, I'm submitting my method to the patent office:
1. Press the 't' key. Optionally hold down the shift key while doing so.
2. Press the 'h' key.
3. Press the 'e' key. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9@paulbobrookins: you are wrong and should not have been digged up.
They are patenting a method for preparing sandwhiches, as parent points out. They are not patenting big mac, quarter pounder, etc. as you simply cannot do that. A patent must demonstrate a new and innovative method of something to be granted. - Jarasmen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I'll take the word TEH then.
- gtlogic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6That's ok, I've already beat them to it. I've patented the lettuce (c).
- theblooms, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6HappyScrappy said "And you do realize that McDonalds menus vary by country, right?"
Sure, in Amsterdam they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese a Royale with Cheese. But what do they call a Whopper? - vdog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Did you read the article? They're patenting the way the sandwich is made, not the sandwich itself.
Today, the butter knife- tomorrow, the world. - andydumi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I read it as trying to patent a machine that will make sandwiches for them. Essentially it will be a fully automated machine to assemble sandwiches. Notice they stack the ingredients, then the machine tips them over into the automatically toasted buns.
This also goes to their claim that it will speed up sandwich making. - HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Smuckers already tried to patent the PB&J sandwich. Rejected.
http://patentlaw.typepad.com/patent/2005/04/children_rejoic.html - webcrumb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Yes, you do. It's two words. :)
- tutivlahos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Big Mac Open Source.
- m0laria, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5They're patenting 16 year olds?
- Methodius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"This is a tasty burger!"
- monticello, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I'm convinced that the quality of Digg has fallen exponentially in the past week or so
1. Inaccurate title and description
2. Not a legit source
3. Gobs of stupidity in the comments-- the majority of which show that the bad commentors didn't even read the poorly presented bad article before making their bad comments - m0laria, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Does the "Pret a Manger" store have a McDonalds sign out front?
- InetRoadkill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So-called "Intellectual Property" has become the scourge of the 21st century. It seems that the idea of a 'new, novel, and useful device or process' as a qualifier for a patent has gone out the window in favor of "we got a lot of patent attornies on our staff".
- Mabu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Why would anybody want to make a sandwich the way Mcdonald's does? Seriously... you don't go there because the food tastes good, you go there because it's fast and convenient. If you're trying to copy their taste and product configuration yourself, you need some therapy.
- emorphien, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I think they're going to have difficulty with this.
- webcrumb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You?
- dattaway, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Back in 1986 I used to work at Burger King for a few years in high school. BK had a promotional sandwich that was set up just like this. They had the ingredients packaged for quick layout and assembly so it could be uniform between all places.
I believe this patent will only be used to strongarm small places from expanding. McDonald's big competitors only have to cross license patents while effectively keeping new players out of the market. Another example how current laws are written to widen the gap between the super rich and everyone else. - diggduggjoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Maybe they will have listings of how trans fat makes it better. I was surprised when I discovered that McD puts trans fats in shakes. Or, Wendy's puts trans fat in the hamburger meat. WTF? Both items have natural occuring fats and no need to adulterate them with trans fat. I give Wendy's and KFC a thumbs up for dumping trans fat fry oil, but I think there must be a little in there somewhere. They are only claiming zero grams per serving, which is anything below .5 grams by the FDA, and serviings are not what they serve you. They can say a single item is actually several servings.
So, this is a process patent? Obviously, they cannot patent stuff between breas. Prior art goes back a pretty far way regarding that. - randomgeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow. Don't I feel sheepish.
- Wavey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Ha, I thought it looked like a fake "Weekly World News" type of story. Should've perused that site a little further before posting, I guess.
- Conwaysb0718, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3 Look... me and the McDonald's people got this little misunderstanding. See, they're McDonald's... I'm McDowell's. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.
- randomgeek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Agreed. You can only make a sandwich so many ways. It's not like their Trademarking the term McDonnalds or "I'm lovin' it." They're trying to *patent* the creation of a sandwich. The far reaching consequences of this is the ability to sue anyone that uses a "sandwich delivery tool". Whether the reasoning is this:
"The burger company says owning the 'intellectual property rights' would help its hot deli sandwiches look and taste the same at all of its restaurants."
Or this:
"We want to sue the competition out of business."
The effect of the patent would be the same. This is why the patent system is broken. It doesn't foster invention any longer, it stifles innovation by sue-happy billionaires. - webcrumb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2sudo make me a sandwich
(sorry, had to be said) - dstz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The joke is on you
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1952246,00.html - monofonik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Read the article. You can do whatever you want. All they're patenting is a bizarre method of making deli sandwiches.
- stuffhappens, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1'...past week or so..'
WEEK? Just WEEK? Where the f*ck have you been for the last few MONTHS? ;-) - blowerfish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is clearly an industrial process.
You wouldn't protest the patenting of a new factory machine, would you? Say, a new method of injection molding? There is no difference between that and this.
What you should be protesting is the fact that McDonald's has transformed food in America into an industrial process. - Jowe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1does this mean that you can no longer make a sandwich at your house legally?
- KMartSheriff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1AMEN!
- Dustyb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Quiznos better do something about this! I can't live with out my classic Italian! NOOO!
- Namco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Imagine getting arrested for violating the DMCA for making a goddam sandwich.
If you peel apart the "bread delivery tool" to have a look at the contents, are you reverse engineering it? They could inplement melted cheese as a means of copy protection preventing you from reverse engineering the sandwich.
Amazing. - gr4v3d1gg3r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They should patent the way they make meat taste like cardboard.That way noone will copy it. :-)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Was this the original intent when the patent office was established? I think not.
- rheaume, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just realized something the other day:
I don't like Mcdinks that much anymore...
Really, take a Whopper, a bigmac and a Big Bacon Classic and eat them (on separate days please!), are you telling me that the bigmac isn't on the bottom of that list for:
A. How delicious it is
and
B. How you feel after you had it?
The Bigcrunch from KFC puts them ahead of Mcds as well, I'm sick of their tasteless, nutrient lacking crap, I mean is there any kind of real food left in their over-researched bland menu? -
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