1994 IBM Manual Describes 2005 Google Patent
from the looks-like-prior-art-to-me dept
theodp writes "The USPTO kicked off 2005 by awarding Google a new patent for highlighting the search term in a retrieved document by changing at least one of a color, font, style, effect, and size. But more than a decade earlier, a 1994 IBM BookManager Library Reader User's Guide described the concept of search emphasis, the use of color or intensity to make search matches stand out from the rest of the text in a softcopy document. As such, wouldn't it be a nice gesture if Google - who boasts they can make money without doing evil - put the patent into the Public Domain? "
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Try 1988.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Is the Google Patent Valid?
OR already described to the public.
That would suggest to me that:
1. the IBM patent would cover it
OR
2. the the hgrep would be prior art.
See Patent Busting at http://www.eff.org/patent/contest/
Any comments?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Is the Google Patent Valid?
There have been so many ridiculous patents it's not funny anymore...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Did you read the patent?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
The greatest obstacle to progress is going to be USPTO... just watch only the lawyers will benefit.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
USPTO
[ link to this | view in chronology ]