Microsoft Patents Matching Wits With Triumph The Insult Comic Dog

from the this-is-patentable? dept

theodp writes "Microsoft was granted a patent Tuesday for "conducting an interactive competition" that pits a player against a celebrity in a head-to-head trivia game in which a player tries to gain more points or answer more questions correctly than the celebrity to win a prize or be designated a 'true fan' of the celebrity. An exemplary embodiment of the invention is showcased at MSN's Outsmart site by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. "
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  1. identicon
    Oliver Wendell Jones, 7 Oct 2004 @ 9:01am

    Prior Art

    Win Ben Stein's Money?

    Wasn't that the whole point of the game - be picked as the smartest of 3 contestants and then go head-to-head against Ben Stein on trivia questions?

    Someone needs to open a 6-pack of whoopass on the people at the USPTO...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    achacha, 7 Oct 2004 @ 1:43pm

    sad

    USPTO is the greatest obstacle to progress in the US.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Red_Eye, 8 Oct 2004 @ 6:46am

    Uhhhh

    Ok its quite obvious now that you dont need prior art qulifications. Why not just rubber stamp all of the suckers and take a vacation.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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