Microsoft Getting Into The Biowaste Business?

from the gotta-be-a-mistake dept

Wed, Feb 14th 2007 3:36pm — Mike Masnick

Going to assume this one is some sort of mistake by the USPTO, but in scanning through the latest patents issued to Microsoft on Tuesday (38 of 'em) one of them stands out. While most are for various software things, there's also 7,174,928, which is for a multi-part waste container apparatus. It's a new (apparently) container to better "accommodate the amount of blood, tissues, and other biological materials generated during a typical surgical procedure." Seems a bit... far out for Microsoft. The inventor named on the patent, Fred Lampropoulos, appears to be the CEO of Merit Medical Systems, rather than a Microsoft employee -- and this certainly seems a bit more like a patent you'd expect from Merit Medical Systems. Still, for a brief moment it was fun to speculate on Microsoft expanding into biowaste.

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14 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2007 @ 3:56pm

I can hear the apple fanboys coming with their jokes about MS having lots of trash.
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- Enrico Suarve, 15 Feb 2007 @ 2:23am
  
  Re:
  I wouldn't worry they'll be quiet as I hear Mr Jobs has one coming out soon only his is white, has a cool subtle logo at the bottom right and a calming green light shines all the way around the seal when its properly closed
  
  Oh and obviously his is GROUNDBREAKING and doesn'in infringe on anybodies IP ;0)
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Carbinefreak, 14 Feb 2007 @ 4:03pm

Vista SP1
SO..... thats whats in the next DRM update known as Vista SP1... God I love M$.. 2k all the way... i don't want the drm i just want my music rofl
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- Heywood, 15 Feb 2007 @ 9:23am
  
  Re: Vista SP1
  You, sir, are stupid. "LOL M$ ROFL DRM VISTASP1 ". Do you realize how much of an idiot you sound like?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2007 @ 4:06pm

the last post is biowaste
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2007 @ 4:14pm

The DRM update will be carefully included with the Vista Biowaste Expansion Pack, available on 7/7/07
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JD Smith, 14 Feb 2007 @ 4:30pm

Microsoft
It probably is from Microsoft, for when they start to recycle the users.
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iNsOmNiAc4104, 14 Feb 2007 @ 4:48pm

Didn't you ever see Antitrust. They need to take care of those kids in a garage somehow...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2007 @ 4:53pm

great, it's bad enough we have to deal with software crashes, now we have to deal with biowaste crashes.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2007 @ 5:26pm

to accommodate the amount of blood
I puke when my MS server software crashes
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|333173|3|_||3, 14 Feb 2007 @ 5:37pm

M$ has been involved in M$ branded hardware for a while, so maybe they wanted to produce biological computers.

Imagine wht happens when it crashes :)

Seriously, this sounds like a multi-compartment bin, like have been around for household rubbish for years.
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Stute, 14 Feb 2007 @ 5:53pm

Well, doesn't it seem obvious?
They are preparing for the next SP for Vista, due any week now, and it apparently runs off of fresh baby blood. ;)
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Kyros, 14 Feb 2007 @ 7:40pm

gotta agree
Gotta agree with Stute on that one :) Maybe that explains why my computer behaves like it's demonically posessed half the time?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2007 @ 9:41pm

A needed feature for corporate admins
Such a container would meet the needs of corporate admins everywhere as they perform mass Vista upgrades. The containers will be needed to hold the blood, sweat, tears, and pulled out hair of these individuals for years to come.

-A programmer in the next cubicle block over
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