Transmitting Information Over A Network Is Patented?

from the were-the-patent-examiners-sleeping? dept

Mon, Jun 13th 2005 12:43am — Mike Masnick

Another day, another ridiculous patent lawsuit. This time it's from a company called Antor Media, who appears to have almost no web presence other than news of another lawsuit concerning this same patent against Apple. In this case, the folks at Antor Media are filing claims against all sorts of mobile device companies including Nokia, UTStarcom, Audiovox, Kyocera, Sanyo, Sharp, NEC, RIM, Virgin Mobile, LG Electronics, Palm One and Panasonic. So what's the patent for? Reading through the details seems to show that Antor Media was somehow granted a patent in 1998 for transmitting information from a central server over a telecommunications network. Anyone think there's, say, a bit of prior art on that sucker? Perhaps the patent reviewer hadn't heard of the internet? And people wonder why we're with those calling for a new test to prove patent obviousness.

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Anonymous of Course, 13 Jun 2005 @ 11:03am

Swinging Patents!
It looks like they patented a CD jukebox serving files and apps. I'm pretty sure I saw at least one BBS running such a device before 1995.
The patent on a method of swinging a swing, yes a child's play swing, convinced me that the patent office needs fewer attorneys and more engineers.
(Yes, I checked, that patent does exist. If you alternately pull on the ropes to swing from side-to-side you're infringing in the patent.)
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anonymouse, 14 Jun 2005 @ 6:20am

No Subject Given
Wonder how easy it would be to bribe a low-paid government patent clerk to approve such a patent?
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