The Noisy Operating System Has Been Patented by Microsoft
from the turn-your-damn-OS-down! dept
theodp writes "Ever wish pond-like ripples could emanate from your emailbox and gradually dissipate when a new email message arrives? Perhaps not, but Microsoft felt the concept was patent-worthy and the USPTO has agreed, granting U.S. patent no. 6,931,601 Tuesday for a Noisy operating system user interface." Again, you have to wonder why this is patentable? It's the sort of thing that seems pointless. If anyone thought about it, they could create it themselves. Instead of patenting it, why not just bring it to market and see if anyone wanted it?
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Sort of like the ripple effect in Dashboard?
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MS also patented the iPod
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=4d51ba92-b1ab-41df-888b-54ad2 94071fb
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Re: MS also patented the iPod
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Questions
I really must wonder though, has Microsoft (or Sony for that matter) actually made anything that makes use of the material in these pattens? Or are they just hiring people to come up with superfluous ideas (probably based on some book or movie) to patten, just waiting and hoping someone will develop something that hits on the patten (see the iPod Controversy).
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Re: Questions
That's not quite what happened there -- MS filed their patent on an iPod-style interface AFTER the iPod had already come to market. It's the perfect case of prior art ... which no doubt means that the patent will stand up in court. Everything else to do with patents comes straight out of Bizarro World, why not that?
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I hope Microsoft didn't patent...
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No Subject Given
They probably see the USPTO as part of the market. :P
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