You Can Patent Advertising?

from the who-knew? dept

The folks at 24/7 Real Media are continuing their patent happy ways by announcing they've received yet another patent for online advertising. Recently, they've been extra aggressive in telling just about everyone that their online ads violate 24/7's patents. This latest one is for "sequential" ads - where the ad is shown in sequential segments. This is patentable? I would think Burma Shave, for one, might claim prior art. Once again, a company is patenting things that are not particularly unique, and then holding everyone else hostage unless they pay up. This is not helping innovation, it's making it more expensive.