Can You Patent Pretending To Let Customers Know Their Online Ordered Pizza Is In The Oven?

from the patenting-bullshit dept

Wed, Apr 7th 2010 5:13pm — Mike Masnick

Jeff Nolan points us to an amusing article trying to dig into some questions over whether or not Domino's "patent pending" pizza tracker is real. Launched a little over two years ago, apparently, if you order a pizza from Domino's online, it takes you to a website where it alerts you in real-time to the status of your pizza: is it in the oven, has it been put in a box, is it on its way, etc. Domino's was quite proud of the fact it had filed a patent for the technology, but there have been some concerns about whether the technology is real, or if it's just a pretty flash animation connected to nothing in reality.

The "evidence" against it being real is that one anonymous commenter on a blog post about the tracker said that it told him his pizza was in the oven and then boxed before he discovered a series of voicemails from the store claiming they could not fulfill his online order because they were "out of deep dish." The second example comes from a guy who just ordered some bottles of soda (no pizza) and was somewhat amused/horrified to watch as his order was "placed in the oven" and then boxed -- only to be delivered two hours later (a bit late) after someone called him asking him if he had ordered something from Domino's, and if so, what it was. That guy notes, of the patent application:

Is that really patent pending technology? I didn't know you could patent bull*&%t

Well, there have been patents on anti-gravity devices, even though they're not supposed to grant patents that, you know, violate the laws of physics -- so perhaps that answers the question there. There's also the patent on sending signals faster than the speed of light.

As for Domino's?

Tim McIntyre, the vice president of communications at Domino's, insisted that his company had not patented bullshit.

"The Pizza Tracker is real, and it is accurate to within 30 seconds," McIntyre told The Daily Caller just seconds after we indicated to customer service that we were investigating the veracity of the Pizza Tracker's sometimes extraordinary claims. Every update customers see on the Tracker except for the final 'delivered' update, McIntyre said knowingly, is triggered by a button press in the store itself.

He later explains that the only part that is "faked" is the delivery time. They just assume the pizza was delivered 10 minutes after it leaves the store (which I would imagine might lead to angry customers who live further away, or if there's a bad traffic jam or something). As for the complaints, apparently there's a bit of a "glitch" with this amazing patent pending technology, such that if someone at the store "clears" an order, the system interprets that as "baked and ready," since, despite all the brilliance going into this patent-pending technology, no one thought to add a feature that tells the customer something's wrong with the order.

But, of course, you shouldn't build that yourself. You might infringe on Domino's possible patent.

As for the patent application itself, I've been looking around for it and haven't turned up anything. Anyone know which patent application it is?

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Filed Under: patents, pizza
Companies: domino's

33 Comments

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NAMELESS.ONE, 7 Apr 2010 @ 5:30pm

how about
patenting how far a pregnacy has gone
UGH
does this ever reak of RETARDED

oh and why not other stupid ideas like
patenting the progress bar of my download
OR
how far the fan in my room will turn in a given second

or how long my coffee will remain warm

BE STUPID you too can be rich in the new american economy
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RD, 7 Apr 2010 @ 5:38pm

I'll give them this...
Well, I will give them this much: it should pass the "not obvious" test, as NO ONE would be stupid enough to think this would be some kind of needed invention.
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R. Miles (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 5:44pm

Excuse me?
"The Pizza Tracker is real, and it is accurate to within 30 seconds," -McIntyre
This statement is completely inaccurate and I can't believe McIntyre has the balls to tell any publication it's accurate "within 30 seconds". I sure would like to know how this could be possible if there is no communication with the servers to update the graph.

I had been curious about this as well at one point, and it turns out a power outage proved the Flash update to be a timed graphic, rather than actual data. When the power went out, so did my router but the laptop kept showing the graph. What was amusing is how this graph continued climbing without any data!

The internet is a magical place and everyone can find something they can enjoy, but I do agree that Dominos did, in fact, patent bullshit.

Now, of course, when others implement the real graph, now Dominos can sue their pants off.
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Nick (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 5:48pm

Re: I'll give them this...
I'd disagree. UPS, Fedex, DHL, and even the USPS (though poorly) allow you to track a package. And really that's all delivery pizza is: A parcel bought to you by a delivery guy. The fact the they make the package (pizza) is irrelevant.
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DJ (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 5:48pm

Re: Excuse me?
"Now, of course, when others implement the real graph, now Dominos can sue their pants off."

Isn't that the [new] American way??
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 6:15pm

why not RE the flash file and find out if it's real?
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kid buu, 7 Apr 2010 @ 6:27pm

dominos
I've ordered online Domino's a few times (last night was the latest) and from what I can see it is indeed the same thing every time.

If I do order again one day I will indeed look around the web page code to find the flash file.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 6:42pm

Need qualified examiners
I think it's funny that a pizza company has a patent on a status display.

I've seen the Domino's tracker, and wondered about the "Patent" that was granted. How is this any different than status displays at the airport? Sometimes I wonder if the examiners at the USPTO get outside and look around or if they're just a group of hermits.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 6:54pm

For those who have worked on the systems that do this what McIntyre says is understandable. The part that fails in the system is the human part. For example some chains in this industry pay managers bonuses based on out the door time. This leads to gaming the system where drivers are asked to clock out orders but then wait for more and I'm sure Domino's knows that. I could see Domino's getting a patent on the interface. The parts from the store up though would probably get thrown out on any test since there is prior art.
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Brian (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 6:58pm

Whats got me...
Its not so much the crap tracker as it is the second guy in the story. Its just got me curious as to who the hell orders bottles of soda for delivery from a pizza place? That just seems a bit strange for a variety of reasons.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 7:04pm

Do Time Traveling Brandy Thieves also steal pizza..?
Two hours for a pizza is crazy.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 7:10pm

Who Cares
Domino's pizza blows. I've ordered the "new" Domino's pizza twice with the "cool" progress bar and it still taste like crap.
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loki_racer (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 7:12pm

Re: Who Cares
Back in the day I worked at a delivery place (steaks and burgers). We would get requests all the time.

"If I order a salad(cheapest thing on menu), can you stop by the store and get me some beer?"

"If I order a salad, will swing by the gas station and get me some milk?"
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Txknight (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 7:14pm

not strange at all, sometimes at my shop, guys have brought food or bought something from the fridge fund we have, but we have no drinks at the time, so they order a couple 2 liters from the pizza place to be delivered
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Txknight (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 7:18pm

sorry need an edit button, the difference between this pizza tracker crap and fed ex, ups etc.. is those are really tracked by bar code, when it tells you scanned into the DFW shipping warehouse or scanned out of the warehouse, they mean it
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Sneeje (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 7:23pm

Re: Excuse me?
When I read that statement by McIntryre, I immediately thought that he could still make the statement if they had determined that *statistically* a timed graph was accurate within 30 seconds.

Your example just confirms it.
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Bill A in SA (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 7:59pm

The nametag matches
I checked once and the nametag on the delivery guy matched who the tracker said was bringing it. So it is definitely pulling some sort of info from the unit level. Just sayin'.
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Where's the Pizza?, 7 Apr 2010 @ 8:23pm

Jim Vitek says on his LinkedIn profile that he is one of the named inventors. Yet there's nothing on the PTO search site - I'm a patent practitioner, and I looked. Assuming a provisional was filed in January 2008, and an application filed in January 2009, then under the 18-month rule, this application should be published in a few months, after which we'll be able to see what exactly was claimed.
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BearGriz72 (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 9:04pm

"Is that really patent pending technology? I didn't know you could patent bull*&%t?"

Best Comment on USPTO to Date!

I am going to -Patent- -Bull- -shit-!
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OldBBSersneverdie, 7 Apr 2010 @ 9:25pm

Old BBSser raising hand again. In the good old days, there was a goofy app on some BBS systems that let users send a virtual pizza to someone else online. Can anyone say 1993? Your pizza was cooking, your pizza was ready, and now your pizza was delivered. It was a totally stupid app and the admins could usually spot a newbie or a twelve-year-old boy pretending he was twenty-one by how many virtual pizzas they tried to send to women who were online.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 4:11am

The second example comes from a guy who just ordered some bottles of soda (no pizza) and was somewhat amused/horrified to watch as his order was "placed in the oven" and then boxed -- only to be delivered two hours later

Just how lazy can someone be to order soda from Dominoes? I bet the delivery guy had to actually go into the house to get his money because the customer was actually stuck to his couch and can't get up. Who wants to bet the soda delivered wasn't diet?
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 5:11am

Re:
His guild was raiding and they needed him.
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Andrew D. Todd, 8 Apr 2010 @ 5:14am

Ordering Beverages with Pizza.
Well, the last time but one that I got hurt, I called up a local mom-and-pop pizza joint (much better quality than Dominoes), ordered a hot dish and a salad, and asked them to make a special stop at the store and get me a gallon of orange juice. If I recall rightly, I'd slid on some ice, and managed to take a dramatic spill, twisting my ankle in the process. As for the most recent time I got hurt, a Walgreen's drugstore had opened on the corner, with a small grocery section. They normally deliver prescriptions, and when I explained my problem over the phone, the manager was willing to pick out about a hundred dollars worth of assorted groceries for me, and deliver them. Ah, well, if you don't have to go to the hospital, you're ahead of the game.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 5:28am

Re: Ordering Beverages with Pizza.
Forget about the Domino's PR flak having balls... we have a new winner.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 7:37am

This has been done before.
www.trackmypizza.com
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 8:26am

Re: how about
You must be a friggin billionaire then.
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iamtheky (profile), 8 Apr 2010 @ 10:03am

so the .swf appears to use

http://trkweb.dominos.com/orderstorage/GetTrackerData?Phone=

as the back end (and 'Phone' is the only query I have found it recognizes)

so typing in 0000000000 at the end of Phone will (show you that plenty of Domino's use that # as a place holder, i assume for carry-outs) and will return many entries. There are certainly oddities (like a 20 second make and 5 minute cooking time). But for the most part it looked as if they were being updated with actions rather than the program.

This number would also work in the webapp, no telling how it determines which 0000000000 to display in the browser.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 10:26am

Re: I'll give them this...
The question is whether it should pass the "prior art" test. Anyone ever use the UPS tracking system?
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Willton, 8 Apr 2010 @ 11:13am

Re: Need qualified examiners
I think it's funny that a pizza company has a patent on a status display.

I've seen the Domino's tracker, and wondered about the "Patent" that was granted.

You apparently did not read Mike's article. No patent has been granted. "Patent Pending" does not mean that the USPTO has issued a patent on this technology. It means that an application directed to the technology is pending.

Sometimes I wonder if the examiners at the USPTO get outside and look around or if they're just a group of hermits.

And sometimes I wonder if Techdirt readers collectively have a reading level below that of the 12th grade.
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iamtheky (profile), 8 Apr 2010 @ 11:47am

you can also search the back end by the combo of storeID/OrderKey.

i.e. http://trkweb.dominos.com/orderstorage/GetTrackerData?StoreID=1165&OrderKey=116550524390

and the webapp displays all results that match the phone number given.
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Brett, 8 Apr 2010 @ 12:52pm

Re:
farther not further in third to last paragraph. Just letting you know. I'm not being an ass I know you are still way smarter than me lol.
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j, 8 Apr 2010 @ 2:58pm

This shows the folly.

The patent application includes these things called claims. Claims are what determine if someone else infringes on the patent ("invention"). Claims are very broad descriptions with almost no detail of an actual (software) product. Claims, despite this lack of detail and extreme broadness, are what officially define the "invention".

The patent also includes a section where you describe the "invention" in more detail. Here you outline a more specific embodiment of the invention that is to include all the general features covered by the claims. Some patent supporters even claim that it is this section where you "teach society" how to make the invention and this is what justifies the 20 year monopoly. [Never mind that many would not pay $100 for this "teaching".]

The problem is that you can have a patent author like Domino's with a horribly buggy and inferior implementation get credit and coverage over a great many other implementations in the marketplace that are many times better and differ significantly in details.

Domino's filed the patent in a hurry before they had a system that worked. Other groups worked on systems that would work. Now we give Domino's (and no one else) control over everyone else that wants to add this functionality. We even allow Domino's to forbid anyone else from creating that feature for their customers, even if the other people had a quality version of the feature almost out the door just as Domino's wrote up their hasty work of art (POS) to get the very very broad 20 year government monopoly subsidy. The USPTO gives 100% control over a broad class of inventions for 20 years to the first crap implementation to ring their doorbell. The USPTO declares that all of that work (perhaps started even before Domino's got the idea for the patent) from everyone else can only now be used by that single patent holder, Domino's.

In fact, we could even argue that the USPTO and the law they support is so messed up that Domino's would be crazy not to sacrifice quality and lack of understanding in order to beat everyone else to the doorbell so they could have control over the use of what all the others were diligently creating. I mean, why spend a year (or more, if necessary) to try and resolve the myriad of difficult design, logistics, and implementation issues that crop up to build the best service/product possible when you can gain control over everyone else's rights to use such a service/product by being the first to write up the broad outline of the "invention".

This failure is not unique to Domino's. The USPTO always gives 100% credit for 20 long years to the one that rushes in the first outline of any particular solution. Never mind that over a 20 year period there is plenty of room to rederive this invention or improve the details of this broad class of inventions 10 times over if everyone could participate (and likely the patent holder would contribute but a tiny part of those improvements). All control is still bestowed on the first doorbell ringer.

This is our great American patent system at work: rewarding ...ummmm... well, the article already covered what was being rewarded. Boys and girls, if this doesn't seem to make any sense from a fairness point of view or from an analysis of what helps society and the industry point of view, don't worry, a great many software developers share your frustrations. No one likes to have their hard work declared illegal on account of a foolish, broken, and unfair law.

Just look at how this lawyer called someone else's open source creation the property of IBM http://blog.lawdeveloper.com/2010/04/07/why-do-people-think-open-source-software-is-special/ :

"This is just another excuse for anti-patent zealots to complain about not being able to steal IBM’s property and use it to compete against IBM."

We are "anti-patent zealots" for objecting to this disgraceful law!

This professional of the law (the one just quoted)* finds it acceptable to call everyone's implementation of a system the property of [fill patent holder name here, eg, Domino's] because that patent holder decided to write a 5 mile high outline of a product before others had finished their products, and that patent holder decided to use that description to exploit the broken patent law so they would be able to make lots of money off others' work and to control just who would be allowed to compete against them for 20 years.

Not all patents are entire garbage, but, to take one example, the quality of much mathematics published by many professionals and amateurs is of much superior quality and difficulty as what we find in these patents, yet mathematicians get no patent monopolies. Thankfully, mathematics has been spared. It looks like businesses might also be spared after the Bilski ruling. Neither business owners nor mathematicians need patents to create products, and they don't want other people interfering to add (monopoly) sludge, neither to their wheels of progress nor to their freedoms to create. This desire to be free of crud is just as true for the vast majority of software developers.

Patents for great ideas will slow down progress because that will be great ideas many others won't be able to have and exploit over the next 20 years. [And great ideas are very valuable to society.] There are many geniuses out there. It makes no sense to mock all of them in order to exalt one above them all for 20 years in some area. Especially not when the one being exalted is but the first one to rush in their outline into the USPTO's office. Surely, there are many proven ways to encourage further innovation (assuming we didn't have enough) without having to hand-cuff world + dog for not winning the lousy race to the USPTO office.

[*]: Don't confuse the above lawyer Stephen with the Stephen (also a lawyer) who posts on againstmonopoly.com
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kevin, 10 Jun 2010 @ 10:27am

flash
so this won't work on an iPad or iPhone?
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