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91 Comments
- GoingPostal, on 10/29/2007, -3/+57I am going to patent the process of scratching my balls. If I catch anyone else doing this, I will sue!
- hugepedlar, on 10/29/2007, -2/+48I have no intention of scratching your balls.
- chris9902, on 10/19/2007, -1/+35If they hadn't done it someone else would have. The problem's not the patent but the patent process.
- reddevil3, on 10/19/2007, -0/+28That is just an absurd patent. Why not just patent the whole process of shopping online? The method of using a "virtual cart"?
- tutivlahos, on 10/29/2007, -3/+26Never happened to me.
- tutivlahos, on 10/29/2007, -1/+24Never happened to me.
- tutivlahos, on 10/29/2007, -1/+24Never happened to me.
- inactive, on 10/23/2007, -0/+14because your countries patent process is fuxored and it needs fixing.
- Skaven55, on 10/19/2007, -0/+14I'll easily get you on 30 years of prior art.
- objectcode, on 10/22/2007, -2/+15patent something you dont do yourself?
- theDevilsDue, on 10/18/2007, -0/+12I bet Amazon wishes they had shipped the guys ***** faster. And why the hell weren't the lawyers representing Barnes and Noble able to dig up prior art?
- uptown, on 10/23/2007, -0/+12Yeah you did.... you bough the MacGuyver DVD set!
And you may be interested to know that customers who bought the MacGuyver DVD set also bought duct tape, a paper clip, chewing gum, a book of matches, and a boomerang. - Error601, on 10/19/2007, -0/+10The "1-Click" is the poster child for the current problem with software patents. Maybe we're seeing some progress to a system that works with software?
- Taikun, on 10/23/2007, -1/+9Then don't comment, please.
- cl0r0x70, on 10/19/2007, -0/+8Exactly. It's called defensive patenting, and it's solely for the purpose of keeping OTHER retards from suing you when they patent "using a keyboard to type in your zip code." What it means is that smaller tech companies can essentially be shut down any time MS, IBM, Apple, etc. wants to just by bringing suits against them.
- inactive, on 10/23/2007, -0/+7*****, what do I owe you?
- inactive, on 10/19/2007, -4/+11i will patent humping a chick. if i ever catch any off you virgins try to get any bright ideas you will be hearing from my lawyers.
- marcedwards, on 10/19/2007, -2/+8Damn. You beat me to it.
Looks like I'll take... umm... picking your nose and farting. Do either of those and you'll be answering to my lawyers. - canthraxp, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6for the same reason you commented on a topic you don't care about.
- wiremonkeymommy, on 10/19/2007, -1/+7all the time, you must be new to the "patent wars"?
- unfilterthought, on 10/19/2007, -0/+6I hate that One Click shopping. My brother's friend sent him a link to the Mcguyver DVD set on amazon, inadvertently sending him a one click link, since the guy just bought it. My brother opens the link, and it says "Thanks for ordering", thanks to One Click shopping -.- (my bro was signed into amazon, looking at other stuff).
He cancelled it of course, but geeze....its like WTF I didn't buy anything!!! - ArchangelZLT, on 10/23/2007, -1/+7I'll patent breathing and suiciding. Any single individual I found doing either thing would end up paying me breathing fee or suiciding fee or something else.
- scorintha, on 10/18/2007, -0/+5I'm glad this was fought. There'll need to be more battles fought over time, however. Especially for web application developers. Sun has a patent on a software development technique called Combinatorial Testing http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6931627.html. It's a very useful technique, but will developers have to pay Sun to use it, or buy a Sun product in order to see it implemented? Seems chilling.
- thanakar, on 10/19/2007, -0/+5What is even crazier is Barnes & Noble is now teamed with Amazon when it comes to selling their books online. Not only did they roll over they joined their enemy.
- SmokedL, on 10/18/2007, -0/+5"Why not just patent the whole process of shopping online? The method of using a "virtual cart"?"
It's already done. http://webshop.ffii.org/
Don't expect sanity from the current patent system..... - peterA650, on 10/23/2007, -0/+4Software and patents are antithetical concepts. Think about it: Patents were established to defend inventions that were largely monolithic, took a lot of time and a lot of money to develop and were immutable (examples: A/C generator, electric light bulb, helicopter).
Software can change so quickly and at such low cost (relatively) that patents do not represent real barriers to entry. They just give first movers the right to sue their puny competition out of business. - edwartica, on 10/23/2007, -1/+5you also get dugg down and reported as a troll.
- bkemper, on 10/18/2007, -0/+4Hey, and it only took ten years!
- venom8599, on 10/18/2007, -0/+4They had an out-of-court settlement agreement IIRC. Basically, they decided to roll over rather than fight it--of course, fighting a patent when you're accused of infringement isn't quite the same as doing it as some random 3rd party like in this situation.
- TheSolomon, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Amazon's one-click check-out patent is one of many examples of non-algorithmic software patents.
- DontGiveADamn, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3One click shopping should be outlawed. They should always present you with an invoice and then you confirm. I almost got screwed out of free shipping because the ad said free shipping but when you click the "one click" it doesn't give you the chance to change from normal shipping to free shipping. Buyers beware!
- limejuice, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3All these software and web patents are ridiculous. I'm a software engineer for the past 15 years, and I've submitted 10 patents myself, and they're all garbage imo. I've yet to see a valid software patent. Just because you automate something ordinary (e.g. customer puchasing a product), and translate that process to the web, that doesn't make it something new or novel. I think of computer software as a different language to express an idea or invention. If someone had invented something and written in down in English, I wouldn't consider the same thing written in Spanish to be a new invention, but that happens all the time in software patents. The internet itself was an invention, but almost all these other technology "inventions" are not. http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/ http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/Patents/patents.html
- cl0r0x70, on 10/18/2007, -0/+3Dupe. Why did the digg system enter my comment twice when I hit "Submit?"
- louisr, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/amazonpatent.html
- JQP123, on 10/18/2007, -0/+3"Maybe we're seeing some progress to a system that works with software?"
Progress? Has anything changed?
At least part of the problem has to do with expectation and perception.
Expectation: The patent office is filled with experts on every subject who spend 24 hours a day scouring the earth for prior art associated with each and every application.
Reality: The patent office is a bureaucracy. Almost any application that meets the bureaucratic rules and requirements gets approved. Now if someone somewhere; such as this gentleman from New Zealand, takes the time to present contradictory evidence in a properly bureaucratic manner, they will review it and act accordingly. - inactive, on 10/19/2007, -0/+3Because obviously Amazon will go bankrupt without this patent. There entire organization was founded on this 1 click system, selling books and other crap has nothing to do with it.
- Elranzer, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Hmmm... so Amazon patents the single-click and Microsoft patents the double-click. I guess there's no turning back now...
TRIPLE-CLICK FTW!!!!111!!1!! - edwartica, on 10/19/2007, -0/+3Reminds me of Paris Hilton saying she owns the phrase "That's hot." Whatever.
- TheSolomon, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Two grand is still a ***** ton of money to lots of people.
- TheSolomon, on 10/18/2007, -0/+3Sometimes going for settlements is far cheaper than paying attorneys and related researchers to attempt to find prior art and fight it.
- masonreloaded, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3There should be:
No patents on software 'ideas' - allow patents any substantial *methods* such as say ILM could patent a particular method of rendering realistic skin on a computer, but they couldn't patent the idea of "using a computer to render realistic skin". the current system is equivalent to allowing someone to patent the idea "a four wheeled vehicle that runs on electricity", and IANAL, but I'm pretty sure you couldn't do that. - justinx0r, on 10/23/2007, -1/+4Patents are stupid and are an affront to free markets.
- ZiggityZhang, on 10/18/2007, -0/+3What's great is that this was all b/c of a disgruntled customer.
"The ruling came as part of a campaign against the patent by a disgruntled Amazon customer, Peter Calveley. The New Zealander and self-described patent enthusiast was burned by an Amazon order of his taking too long to arrive. The experience got him to think about Amazon's 1-Click intellectual property, which in turn prompted him to start digging up prior art. Calveley took the time to add, "They deserve to be smacked down." - inactive, on 10/18/2007, -0/+2Has anyone patented 1-Click comment yet?
- mrjah, on 10/18/2007, -0/+2The USPTO needs to be properly equipped and staffed to do their homework. They should have identified at least some of this prior art and rejected most of the Amazon patent in 1997. Instead, some random guy did it for them and singlehandedly exceeded the collective effort of the entire Office.
I went through a painful patent process in 2000-2004, and discovered that there really is nobody to do the homework. In practice, it's nobody's job. You don't HAVE to do it; your patent attorney (if you use one) doesn't HAVE to do it; and the USPTO is SUPPOSED to do it but they don't. At least, they didn't do it back then. Sure, they'd find a few similar patents, but not the important ones.
Maybe they've gotten better since then. - tartle, on 10/18/2007, -0/+2The Kiwi who did all this also said on his blog...
"Update: Some people are sending me money -however I don't have any expenses right now so thank you very much but I can't accept it. If you want me to do some work for you though..." - rocket777, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Stop using logic. Govenments don't run on logic.
- rocket777, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Until we pull the curtain behind the wizards in DC, and see what they are for real, we will always be their slaves. Patents are just monopolies given to friends of the government.
There are no Einstein's working in the patent office. Just schmucks. - KaivenTor, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2"That is just an absurd patent. Why not just patent the whole process of shopping online? The method of using a "virtual cart"?"
- A company called Pangea Intellectual tried that a few years back. The owner had to go into hiding for a little while because of that announcement. - cjwl, on 10/18/2007, -0/+2Amazing job by Peter Calveley and his supporters!
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