51 Comments
- Hardcase, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Yoiks, Digg has achieved a goal that I thought was only possible on /.! The same story on the front page...twice!
I'd like to congratulate everyone who made this possible. - mynameistim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12this is one of the top 4 things google's ever come out with. at least 193489589 times better than the search on uspto.gov.
better get patenting... - fatdog789, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10@j and wierd:
You guys have got it wrong and right.
Patents do encourage innovation, because that means you get rewarded for coming up with stuff.
BUT the period of patent protection is way too long for the software industry; by the time it expires, the industry has gone through a generation change or two.
AND the whole cockamamie idea to allow the patenting of business processes was just ***** up, since the patent was never supposed to apply to mere ideas. But that's what you get from Republican appointees. - weirddave, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@muvment
You're confusing what the patent law ideally intends to do with what it actually does.
How many existing pieces of software would not have been developed if software patents didn't exist? - jsd8cc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/index.html
- jsd8cc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I have to disagree. IMO, Patents stifle innovation by diverting resources (monetary and otherwise) from R&D to trying to obtain and defend patents. Not to mention trivial patents that are merely extensions of well-known technologies, creating headaches for inventors and developers.
- pcmacman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Neat. The USPTO viewer has never worked for me, this is a great Google addition.
- nicku, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Guess the optical character recognition isn't working too well: http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT1900474&id=VuVRAAAAEBAJ&dq=fart
- MoneyShot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I'm generally not a dup nazi, but come on... the first story is still on the main page. Another broken part of Digg.
- n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Great here comes the large influx of patent stories on Digg.
- jonashwing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4come on people. this is a duplicate. the other story with way more diggs is still on the front page
- noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes, because filing a patent costs in excess of 10,000 dollars, for a patent lawyer and various other expenses. Digg is free, *****. The US Patent Office doesn't have AdSense.
- noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It seems like patents 1 - 10000 involve some sort of mechanical cranking thing with a wheel.
- tony134340, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hey, I did too:
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT2398714&id=efhgAAAAEBAJ&dq=john+doe - mynameistim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2because it costs a buttload of money to get a patent and it's free to post on digg.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Google_Patent_Search
- NJank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i dunno. I'm still a big fan of http://www.freepatentsonline.com. You can save good quality PDF's of the patents. Search quality is a little mixed. Might work in both sites if the google search is that much better (and based on track record, I'd assume so.) Search via google, grab copies at fponline.
- digitalchaos666, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://www.google.com/patents?id=g5Y9AAAAEBAJ
- IrritatedJones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Paranoid. That's a normal way of thinking when you are dealing with a new idea that possibly could make you millions of dollars. I work in the medical field and have worked on a few patents, and my patent attorney is even more paranoid then I am. It's kind of sad but I partially agree with those that are saying it is a great way for google to find out about an up and coming start up company. However, from what I can tell this is a million times easier to use the uspto.gov.
Personally, I think the entire patent process should be overhauled. - andrewpate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Not many people know this about me, but apparently I invented the dance floor!
Lol, no just some guy with the same name. but maybe I can use that line at clubs.
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPATD470602&id=PlcPAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=andrew+pate - Bigcat151, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://www.google.com/patents?q=penis+pump&btnG=Search+Patents
Great Success! - listrophy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What's this? The TIFFs from the uspto have been converted by google to PNG?
Best. Innovation. Ever.
And anyone who has ever done patent searches before knows exactly what I'm talking about. - bioskope, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I remember making a web app that did this. Ended up hammering their server so hard during my initial tries that my company had to get a new ISP just to start on the project from the scratch since they banned that range
- Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I usually don't agree with name calling but in this case it is accurate.
- icefroggy6, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Agreed.
Not only that, but they store all searches. Keep that in mind when you're searching for your new fangled techno-gizmo-invention.
Generally I'm not totally paranoid, but when it comes to money, it's a different story. - aerobe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is so cool !
- muvment256, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ok, i will concede that the patent period for software is way too long. By the time the patent expires, it is of no use. I think we need to shorten the time period to something aorund 5 years. Long enough to encourage spending into development, but short enough to still allow some public good to come of it.
While we're at it, the life + 70 years for copyright is completely ridiculous. - davedekker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lots of fodder about it being a dup, but I read digg all the time and didn't see the original, I am an engineer that uses USPTO all the time and I am glad this was posted even if a dup, it will help me out greatly, I was able to quickly find numerous patents of mine.
D - Erasmus354, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Lame, do a damn search before you submit a story. Hell, do a search before you digg it. The same story is not but 3 pages back people come on.
- tony134340, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Google read my mind. C'mon, who doesn't look forward to seeing all the wacky inventions that'll hopefully be Dugg out of this?
- Tandaemonium, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6I don't get the digg downs. My father didn't patent wacky inventions. He was a Fullbright Fellow whose patents consist of chemical processes that affect most of the people on the planet ranging from the tires on your car to water purification. Sorry, if I'm touchy ATM on this, but I'm just proud of my dad and finding this stuff online when the USPTO's site gives me only a sample page most of the time, makes me excited. He's a really humble guy and doesn't flaunt his accomplishments at all nor would he ever volunteer any of this information. So pretty much I've had to discover what exactly he's accomplished on my own. When I find stuff like this out, print and frame them and then show him, he lights up like I've just brought back good memories.
- rabiddogma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1One other historical note. The reason the Patient system was invented to begin with was to ENCOURAGE knowledge sharing and innovation by providing an incentive for businesses to share their methods and technology. Without patents many businesses would keep a lot of innovation to themselves as trade secrets.
I tend to agree that the patent system is flawed and abused. But I would favor reform of the system rather than doing away with it all together. - BigSlacker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Patents are good thing unless they are granted for obvious and/or non-specific things. A patent on "a browser embedded application" is as bogus as a patent on "a protective covering for the foot".
- BigSlacker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just like the phrase "marital orgasmic therapy"
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5067480&id=IGAlAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=stimulator#PPP1,M1 - maxkash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1'Dildo' produces some funny NSFW results:
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT6203491&id=rk8FAAAAEBAJ&dq=dildo
(look at page 3) - Kola, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You just gotta love Google. It's becoming even more sad that the day their data servers all crash, I'll be in deep *****
- zulfaqar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1First to all those who think that they will see new inventions being posted on google patents, think again. Google only has patents and not patent applications. Patent applications are not made public until 18 months after it has been filed. Most of the patents you will see are inventions that where filed for almost 2 to 3 years before (sometimes even longer). Therefore, most of the patents on here will be fairly well known before a patent is even issued. To those who complain that the PTO accepts applications that are frivilous, you are right. That however does not mean they will be granted a patent. If an invention is a obvious derivative an already known invention then a good examiner will reject the application claim based on that ground.
Finally, I want to comment that I love this new search tool. The layout is the best part. If google would incorporate strong boolean operators into is search capabilities it would make it the best search site out there. - jonashwing, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2and you shall get buried just like he did
- muvment256, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0thats why patents have the non-obvious and novel (and useful) requirements. And claims should not be overly broad.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Don't you mean a large influx of Apple patents? har har.
- hokkos, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2US Patent are dumb because patent office of the US accept stupid patent without innovation.
European patent are ok, because they don't accept things without innovation. - lustre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Laudable but my search did not return even one of several patents I have when searching on my name (inventor name). It looks like it yet needs some work.
- imightkillyou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Has anyone considered that this would give them a lock on new and upcoming patent ideas? If you search for a patent idea, and your search returns 0 results - couldn't Google then begin to research that idea and beat you to the punch with their massive R&D shop they have built? Just wondering if anyone has considered the implications of this, I considered it for their traditional search mechanism, but it would be hard to clean. This would seem to be much easier to scrub.
- RugbyPrince, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Not that i'm cynical of google or anything, but... given that they keep an incredible amount of information stored regarding search engine queries, doesn't it seem as though this may be a way for google to identify potential competitors? A small start-up wants to see what patents exist similar to their technology, certain patents raise a red-flag, and google can identify a threat before they are even a threat...
if i were in the process of building a start-up, there is no way in hell i would use this... - zlyoga, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5That's cool. I found my dad's patents
edit: ha wow didnt realize the person above me said the same thing - Ransomowris, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5Duplicate story.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4LOL, so how is this going to be any different than the morons who posts dupes constantly here at digg?
People will see the patent, and try to apply for the same reasons idiots here post dupes (whatever the reason is). - Tandaemonium, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5Cool! I found a bunch of my dad's patents!
Chip on shoulder -> again getting bigger. - Sanitarium, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Dupe
- listrophy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Dupe Comment.
See: http://digg.com/tech_news/Official_Google_Blog_Now_you_can_search_for_U_S_patents#c4266381
haha. I kill me.


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