Unbiased Survey Says Video Games Are Great For Learning
How Jealousy Could Destroy The Internet

Patent Troubles For...Um, The USPTO?

Legal Issues

from the whoooooooops dept

Fri, Jan 13th 2006 11:46am — Mike Masnick
W. B. McNamara writes "Ah, the beauty of it all: Peter Zura's excellent Two-Seventy-One Patent blog reports that the USPTO's initiative to grant fewer bad patents, which is to include use of an automated "patent quality index," could be heading for some trouble due to...wait for it, now...a patent covering "a computer-automated method for rating or ranking patents or other intangible assets [...]"." We discussed the new Patent Quality Index earlier this week -- though, it's still unclear if the new system is really automated or what. Still, the idea of the USPTO being involved in possible patent infringement certainly has its amusement value.
Hide this

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

9 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    The Other Mike, 13 Jan 2006 @ 12:03pm

    Now that is funny

    Oh the irony... Thanks for the laugh Mike.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    GSA, 13 Jan 2006 @ 12:12pm

    No Subject Given

    Wow - talk about a conflict of interest! They *could* just revoke the patent and move ahead, but that will only cause the USPTO to sue itself when they realize the organization deciding the matter (the USPTO themselves) is not an arms-length disinterested and unbiased party.
    In other words, HA-HA, you've been Nelsoned.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    AF, 13 Jan 2006 @ 12:20pm

    No Subject Given

    Good way to cap off a long week. This made my Friday.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mike S., 13 Jan 2006 @ 1:05pm

    No Subject Given

    True, this is funny. But isn't it the case that the government is exempted from patent infringement issues in exchange for the patent 'protection' itsself? Isn't that the theory, at least?

    -Mike

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Susheel, 13 Jan 2006 @ 1:52pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      I believe the government is exempt. They issue the patent after all....

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        ehrichweiss, 13 Jan 2006 @ 2:22pm

        Re: No Subject Given

        If the government were exempt then there wouldn't have been that huge fiasco over the NTP/RIM case when they were gonna cut off all the Blackberry email. I know they allowed the email for government employees but that wasn't due to the patent office granting it, it was the decision of a judge who determined that a part of the government would shut down and be harmed if they couldn't find a better way. Once that was announced, IIRC, alternative solutions were being investigated.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2006 @ 6:52am

          Re: No Subject Given

          except that here the government is creating and using it. in NTP/RIM they are just buying a product, sure its useful to the government, but they didn't create or maintain it.

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    BlindSide, 14 Jan 2006 @ 3:59pm

    Ok I'll say it...

    ROTFLMAO!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Blake, 15 Jan 2006 @ 2:32pm

    Quickly

    Someone file that patent for "stupid patents" we all keep joking about.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


Unbiased Survey Says Video Games Are Great For Learning
How Jealousy Could Destroy The Internet
Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

Friday

19:39 Important Announcement: Techdirt Is Migrating To A New Platform (0)
More arrow

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.