The present state of patent / copyright around the world is allot like several small children in a sandbox fighting over one toy. It is a mess and broke.
Rich On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:07:30 -0500, Jim Nichol wrote: >On Dec 14, 2006, at 9:29 PM, Robert Wright wrote: >> Anyway, why would the patent office even register this? >To help out a toymaker? Actually, the Patent Office apparently will >register a patent on virtually anything these days. Especially if >it's related to computers or the Internet. I took a course in patent >theory in college, and I know that to receive a patent your idea is >supposed to be "novel". Explain to me how all these computer patents >are "novel", when someone can get a patent on 1-Click purchasing, or >a slew of other equally ridiculous and TOTALLY obvious ideas. Matter >of fact, companies are constantly having to get patents on non-novel >ideas, just to prevent others from doing it first. >They ought to disband the Patent Office, and start over with >employees willing to follow patent law. If they'd start rejecting non- >novel ideas and publishing the rejections, then others would know >they don't need to worry about getting a patent on an "all green web >page", or something else as silly. >Jim
