Patenting The Geophysical Center Of Europe?

from the this-is-a-joke,-right? dept

Fri, Aug 13th 2010 8:54am — Mike Masnick

Bas Grasmayer points us to the claim that the Austrian town of Frauenkirchen has apparently tried to patent the fact that it represents the geographical midpoint of Europe. Apparently, there are a few nearby places that have also made claims to being the geophysical center of Europe, and someone decided to go that extra kilometer and try to patent it. Unfortunately, the details are really sparse. Wikipedia notes that it holds the Austrian patent AM 7738/2003, but navigating the Austrian patent website didn't work very well (um... language barrier...). The only source cited by Wikipedia is a speech from a few years ago, which mentions in passing that ~~a woman's church~~ the town had patented it (Update: the name Frauenkirchen apparently means "woman's church" so this is a bit of a translation error -- the guy was referring to the town). I don't quite see how such a thing is even remotely patentable, and I do wonder if they actually mean trademark -- so perhaps someone who's a bit more familiar with this can fill us in. Either way, it sounds pretty ridiculous to apply for (and potentially get) any sort of "intellectual property" monopoly privilege on the claim of being the geophysical center of Europe.

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

Filed Under: austria, geophysical center of europe, patents

32 Comments

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

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:07am

Those who can't innovate litigate.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Vic, 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:08am

I believe German Frauenkirchen means "woman's church" in English. So, did a church really try to patent it or a town?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- chris (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:29am
  
  Re:
  I believe German Frauenkirchen means "woman's church" in English.
  
  i misread the town name as frauenkirschen, or something to do with women and cherries.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike Masnick (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:30am
  
  Re:
  I believe German Frauenkirchen means "woman's church" in English. So, did a church really try to patent it or a town?
  
  Aha! The town did. I got "woman's church" from the Google translation of the speech, but that's because it translated the town name. Ooops. Anyway, updated the article. Thanks!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - The Groove Tiger (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:45am
    
    Re: Re:
    That's probably because that funky Capitalization of every Noun in German.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Helena, 17 Aug 2010 @ 7:49am
  
  Re: Frauenkirchen
  Frauenkirchen is the name of a town... even though the literal meaning is Women's Church.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
TtfnJohn (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:13am

This is the EU, so any kind of idiocy is not merely possible but likely.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- PaulT (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:36am
  
  Re:
  ...because frivolous patent lawsuits are never filed in your country?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Your girlfriend, 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:40am

As long as...
they don't try to trademark "Center of the Universe".

I've got that one as far as you're concerned.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Dark Helmet (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:41am
  
  Re: As long as...
  Bwhahahahahah!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Ron Rezendes (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:35am
  
  Re: As long as...
  Actually, since I AM, in fact, the center of the Universe, you be getting your C&D letter shortly along with a letter from my attorney. Or, you could simply make this all go away with a 5-6 digit "donation" to a charitable cause of MY choosing, namely - me and I'll grant you a 5 year license so you can also claim to be COTU!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
AudubleNod, 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:48am

Icebox
This is reminiscent of the 'Icebox' debate a few years ago. Where two towns where claiming to be the "Icebox of America". If I were in one of the other towns claiming to be the center of Europe, I'd pay to dredge up some land from the ocean in Portugal or Iceland which would shift the center away from Frauenkirchen. :P

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/02/22/iceboxtitle/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Michael, 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:58am
  
  Re: Icebox
  That's just the thing.
  
  If they get IP protection for this, even if a comet hit Germany and made Austria beach-front property (or if some ill conceived plan to beat Superman worked), the new actual center of Europe could not even claim their new found glory.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
drew (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:00am

Presumably...
...with the gradual movement of tectonic plates, eventually another nearby town will have the chance to stake their claim? In, i dunno, a billion years or so.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:17am
  
  Presumably...
  ...with the gradual movement of tectonic plates, shouldn't there be a case for prior art?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 13 Aug 2010 @ 12:01pm
  
  Re: Presumably...
  Or just wait until the patent expires.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Spaceman Spiff (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:23am

Center of what?
Does this mean I can patent the fact that I am the Center of the Universe? That all revolves around Me? :-)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Ron Rezendes (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:36am
  
  Re: Center of what?
  Actually, since I AM, in fact, the center of the Universe, you be getting your C&D letter shortly along with a letter from my attorney. Or, you could simply make this all go away with a 5-6 digit "donation" to a charitable cause of MY choosing, namely - me and I'll grant you a 5 year license so you can also claim to be COTU!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hephaestus (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:38am

I owned and winter jacket years back ...
The jacket had a map of the world as the inside lining. Someone asked me where Troy NY was so I showed them ... in the arm pit of the world. Fitting actually.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Comboman (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:49am

formula patent?
I suppose they could patent the formula that they used to calculate the geophysical center of Europe, but if someone else is claiming to be the center they would be using a different formula anyway, so what's the point.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Hugh Mann (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 12:03pm
  
  Re: formula patent?
  Yes, this is what I wondered - if perhaps the patent (if there really is one) was based on the method used to make the determination.
  
  I have to wonder, too, if this isn't actually a regional designation issue, like only sparkling wine from the Chamgagne region of France can be called "champagne".
  
  HM
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Andrew D. Todd, 13 Aug 2010 @ 10:50am

The Mother Goddess.
Frau can mean Wife, or Lady. In this case, Frauenkirche translates approximately as Church of Our Lady, or Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or words to that effect, or, if you prefer it in Spanish, Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles. The city's full and correct name is La Ciudad de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles. In English, there is sometimes something called the "Lady-Chapel."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Danny, 13 Aug 2010 @ 11:18am

No....
Personally I think this should fall under the same umbrella of trying to patent hard facts. In fact I'm sure that there is someway to actually calculate and prove where the center of Europe and therefore even before you get to the matter of shifting tectonic plates this should not be patentable.

If a bunch of different places start trying to make that claim I'd just walk into every town and ask them to prove it or it doesn't count.

This is simple a matter of people trying to use the law to preempt science ("If I hold the patent on being the center of Europe then even if plate shift and leave the center somewhere else I will still be the only one that can claim it!").
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jac, 13 Aug 2010 @ 11:22am

Here's a retirement plan
I'm going to move to Austria and I'm going to patent 12 o'clock as the middle of the day.

===Jac
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Rabbit80, 13 Aug 2010 @ 3:25pm

Re: Here's a retirement plan
... and you would be wrong ..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_time
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Joe Erb, 13 Aug 2010 @ 7:03pm

patent
The patent office is also responsible for designation of origin and trademark matters, although the website is godawful. It appears to be some sort of attempt at filing a designation of origin mark.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gene Cavanaugh, 14 Aug 2010 @ 2:37pm

Patenting Frauenkirchen location
Someone is having fun with us! The speech alludes to the location as "patentable" in the sense of unique.
To support this, the Austrian patent office knows nothing about an AM 7038/2003 patent, trademark, design patent, or any other form of IP.
Yes, it is a joke.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
inventor, 15 Aug 2010 @ 9:21pm

patenting the town
What rights does the owner of the patent have? Ownership of the town? Control of the borders?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
angry dude, 16 Aug 2010 @ 6:22am

C'mon MIkey, get sober
MIkey, what did you drink yesterday?
Hangover is terrible and it does affect your little brain

I suggest switching to better brand of vodka or tequila or wehatever you drink before posting your moronic blog entries
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mirado_Woodtone_II, 16 Aug 2010 @ 10:00am

patent on geographic center of Europe
Center of modern Europe, if you include European Russia up to the Urals is described by some as:

After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent of Europe in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National determined that the Geographic Centre of Europe is located at 54°54′N, 25°19′E. The method used for calculating this point was that of the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe. This point is located in Lithuania, specifically 26 kilometres north of its capital city, Vilnius, near the village of Purnuškės. A monument, composed by the sculptor Gediminas Jokūbonis and consisting of a column of white granite surmounted by a crown of stars, was erected at the location in 2004. An area of woods and fields surrounding the geographic centre point and including Lake Girija, Bernotai Hill, and an old burial ground, was set aside as a reserve in 1992. The State Tourism Department at the Ministry of Economy of Lithuania has classified the Geographic Centre monument and its reserve as a tourist attraction. 17 km away lies Europos Parkas,
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_centre_of_Europe
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ghjm, 16 Aug 2010 @ 1:01pm

How does "patent" translate?
The modern English term "patent" derives from the feudal "letters patent," which was the term for all documents used by the crown to grant offices, titles, land rights and royal monopolies. If a feudal lord wished to settle the question of which town was the center of his realm, letters patent would be an appropriate medieval form for this act.

Is it possible that the Austrian language or legal system still contains some echo of this concept, which Google is translating as "patent" but which actually carries an English-language meaning closer to "affidavit?"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
mfoetsch (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 4:13pm

The patent system is screwed up, but Wikipedia even more so
Mike, this story is bogus. It goes back to a dubious edit on the German Wikipedia. The word "patent" was later added by the English Wikipedia editor.

It's really just a trademark on the term "Center of Europe". This little "fact" about the patent has since been repeated a couple of times on the net. Thanks to your post, it will now live on forever. ;-)

I did some research to find out where it can be traced back: http://realmike.org/blog/2010/08/16/patenting-the-geophysical-center-of-europe/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]