Jay Walker Continues Quest To Sue The Internet Into Oblivion With Patents

from the tarnished-legacy dept

Thu, Oct 27th 2011 12:47pm — Mike Masnick

Jay Walker created Priceline. That was a good idea, and he showed that he could execute on that. But since then, apparently the only thing he's wanted to execute on is destroying his legacy by becoming a full on patent troll, and suing as many big companies as possible. Last year, we noted that Walker claimed he had effectively invented "friending" (Patent: 5,884,27 for "establishing and maintaining user-controlled anonymous communications.") and sued Facebook. That same article talked about him suing the Powerball lottery (Patent: 7,740,537 on "applying lottery multipliers").

Earlier this year, he apparently decided to accelerate that campaign, by suing basically every successful internet company. All in all, he sued 100 different companies, including Microsoft, eBay, Amazon, Facebook (again), WalMart, GroupOn, Apple and Google.

But why stop there? On October 18th, Walker got a new patent: 8,041,711, for a "Method and system for providing a link in an electronic file being presented to a user," and before the day was over, he had sued Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo and Vibrant Media over that patent. He got the lawsuits in so fast that the USPTO website apparently hadn't even listed his new patent at the time (it has now).

With those last lawsuits, Walker claimed that the various companies wouldn't have existed without his inventions ("A number of great companies can trace their genesis to technology that was first developed at Walker Digital in the mid-to-late 1990s.") Once again, he doesn't seem to shy away from ridiculous hyperbole, claiming that his invention is why those companies have targeted advertising:

Those "revolutionary technologies � were a direct result of investments made by Walker Digital," according to the complaints.

Let's put this plainly: that's bullshit. Nothing that any of those companies did was a result of any investment by Walker Digital. Walker is relying on a popular myth, that patent infringement lawsuits are about someone "copying" an idea from someone else. The reality (and studies have shown this repeatedly) is that most patent infringement lawsuits have nothing to do with one company copying someone else or copying a patent. In this case, it's pretty damn clear that these companies most certainly did not build their own targeted advertisement program because of anything that Walker did. Claiming so is flat out laughable.

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Filed Under: jay walker, patents, targeted advertising
Companies: amazon, google, microsoft, vibrant media, walker digital, yahoo

46 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 12:57pm

Patents
Since the U.S. is now allowing patents for things that already exist, I'd like to patent the following:
Heating food
Clothing
Shelter
Living indoors
Vowels
Written languages
Spoken Languages
And, Patents

Now, in order to avoid a lawsuit - take your clothing off and go outside.
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usul_of_arakis (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:06pm

Re: Patents
You want photos?
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out_of_the_blue, 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:07pm

Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.
I have some, easy and practical: patents go to "natural" persons only, non-transferrable, and require a working physical model to rule out software, methods, DNA, and so on.

Mike has basically nothing but a blog.
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GeneralEmergency (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:07pm

Wow.
.

Mike said "bullshit".

Mike's pissed.

Go Mike. Go.

.
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Atkray (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:25pm

Re: Patents
Sadly, if you pay the filing fees you will probably get them.
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bjupton (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:31pm

It sure is bullshit.

"On October 18th, Walker got a new patent: 8,041,711, for a "Method and system for providing a link in an electronic file being presented to a user,"

From the 90s? New? Bullshit.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:41pm

Re: Wow.
Profanity is the common crutch of the conversational cripple.
--David Keuck

Profanity is the attempt of a lazy and feeble mind to express itself forcefully.
--Anonymous

When a man uses profanity to support an argument, it indicates that either the man or the argument is weak - probably both.
--Anonymous

A vessel is known by the sound, whether it be cracked or not, so men are proved by their speeches whether they be wise or not.
--Demosthenes

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
--Eric Hoffer

A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
--Confucius.

Since this is about patents:
Just shoot yourself, fucking moron.
--angry dude
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:43pm

Re: Re: Wow.
This was supposed to be in reply to GeneralEmergency. Apparently I screwed up somewhere. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:44pm

Re: Re: Wow.
That reminds me; still need to make that **I trolled with angry dude** tshirt...
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:45pm

Re: Patents
Your food heating patent wouldn't work:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4397875.html
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:49pm

Re: Re: Patents
Nay, that patent depends upon 'blowing air!' One need only patent one which depends upon heat.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:50pm

Re: Re: Wow.
I firmly believe that if you can live out your average day in America and not use the word "fuck", then YOU have anger issues.
--Lewis Black

Everyone should learn from Lewis Black.
--Dark Helmet
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:52pm

Re: Re: Wow.
"You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag." - General Goerge S. Patton
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bjupton (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:52pm

Re: Re: Wow.
So many appeals to authority.

Two authorities you can't even place.

Well, I'm convinced.
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crade (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 1:54pm

Re: Re: Wow.
profanity is some word some prejudiced dude heard one of the "lowly" people say and decided is not good enough for "civilized" people to use.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:00pm

Re: Re: Re: Wow.
Jesus, this whole thread is retarded....
--Dark Helmet
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bjupton (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:01pm

Re: Re: Re: Wow.
Exactly.

Easy enough to fix though. Just don't allow people to communicate. Ends that fucking problem once and for all.
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S, 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:04pm

Re: Re: Re: Wow.
Strictly speaking that's bullshit.

However, that doesn't mean there's something inherently wrong with profanity -- every language tool exists for a very good reason, including fucking swearing.
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Richard (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:06pm

Re: Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.
I have some, easy and practical: patents go to "natural" persons only, non-transferrable, and require a working physical model to rule out software, methods, DNA, and so on.

Oddly, given your second paragraph, I think Mike would agree with most of that...
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GeneralEmergency (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:11pm

Re: Re: Re: Wow.
.

I'm just glad Mike didn't say "cow-poopie".

That would have -really- spun me up.

.
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crade (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:16pm

Re: Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.
Software is still a working physical model, it's just really small.
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crade (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:37pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Wow.
I'll fully admit it is just an assumption based on my own observation that I have yet to disprove to my satisfaction :)
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Dark Helmet (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:41pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Wow.
Correctly quoted sir, down to the extra period in the ellipsis. Well done....
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DCL, 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:43pm

He might as well quit trying...
... E-PARASITES is going to destroy the internet before he gets any money out of it anyway.

...wait... if he is the new owner of the internet then he gets the responsibility of all the E-PARASITES rules sent to him first. That leaves the rest of us to create a new better internet.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 2:52pm

Re: Re: Re: Wow.
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.
--Oscar Wilde

My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others!
--Marquis de Sade
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harbingerofdoom (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 3:06pm

Re: Re: Wow.
in regards to your attributions: not a single fuck was given.

--me
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harbingerofdoom (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 3:19pm

that has got to be one of the most painful patents i have ever looked at in my life.

and its odd that it contains language which indicates that the practice was already in use by others at the time it was filed making it decidedly NOT new.
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DOlz (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 3:24pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Wow.
So you're saying you support the E-PARASITES Act?
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randomron, 27 Oct 2011 @ 3:34pm

Re: Re: Wow.
When a person says "Bull Shit!" he is simply using the exclamation as a shortened version of "male bovine excretemant". (sp?)

and if you can't spell or don't want to use the phrase "That's a Damned Lie" it works pretty good!
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bjupton (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 3:39pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wow.
no, I like communicating.

I don't see fucking as a problem.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 5:27pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Wow.
- Michael Scott
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DOlz (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 6:47pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wow.
Can someone tell me what the emoticon for just joking is?
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BeeAitch (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 8:25pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wow.
t'__'t

or this.

Oops, that one means something else, I think...
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 8:46pm

Re: Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.
Yup.

1. Abolish the patent system. Or ...

2. Remove the commercial monopolies from it. Yes, that amounts to compulsory licensing to the whole world for free. Inventors who are unhappy with freely disclosing their inventions, should keep them secret. Independent invention works just fine. Let somebody else have the credit. The "Progress of Science and the useful Arts" will be better than ever.

With no possibility of a patent infringement lawsuit, the patent bar would be unable to impose economic costs on the rest of society. That would be a very good thing for the rest of us.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:05pm

The real parasites want to destroy the little guy making it impossible for anyone but the very rich to be able to operate inside America.
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A Guy (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:12pm

At what point does patent litigation start to violate the the first amendment?

If, and that's a strong if, claims like this are upheld by current statute could the overall design of a patent system that forces onerous penalties for using methods of communication over other peoples infrastructure be "abridging the freedom of speech?"

IANAL, but if there is one reading, does anyone know if there is precedent on this?
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nasch (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:55pm

Re: Re: Re: Wow.
Anyone who believes anything Lewis Black says about anger issues should probably have his head examined. ;-)
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Conscientiouspirate (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 10:15pm

"Establishing and maintaining user-controlled anonymous communications"? Did this Jay Walker guy possibly invent talking to other people?

Seems I might need a counterclaim to cover myself. Perhaps I should patent "A method for a pedestrian to cross a roadway containing vehicles with the right of way."
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FlushedAway, 27 Oct 2011 @ 11:50pm

A system or method for cleaning waste residue from one's self
AKA wiping your butt.
AKA bullshit.
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martyburns (profile), 28 Oct 2011 @ 4:43am

Jay Walker - funny! Does this not mean in the US what it means in the UK; someone who crosses the street without waiting for the green man or not on a crossing when on is near by?
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2011 @ 6:04am

Re: Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.
Mike has basically a blog.

You have...

Wait, just what the fuck DO you have?
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Mike Masnick (profile), 29 Oct 2011 @ 3:11am

Re: Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.
Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.

Right. because we've never suggested practical solutions.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110819/14021115603/so-how-do-we-fix-patent-system.s html
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 30 Oct 2011 @ 4:52pm

Re: Got any solutions? Yelling "the patent system is broke!" isn't working.
"Mike has basically nothing but a blog."

And perhaps big corporate money for delivering PR (propaganda).

Mike Masnick likes to talk about journalism. Journalists and PR flacks for the most part have the same training and yet there is no love loss between the two groups. Journalists on balance make the world a better place, while PR hacks are in my opinion ethically flawed on a fundamental level.

The primary difference between journalists and PR hacks is that journalists believe in exposing the truth while PR hacks use the same skills to give cover to those of dubious repute.

Inventors conceive of new useful things. Mike has claimed to be an inventor but has not been able to provide any proof.

In a twisted sense his claim has some truth, he invents propaganda. This article is a good example of Mike Masnick's inventiveness.

Look at the difference between what Jay Walker has accomplished and what Mike Masnick represents. Is it any wonder that Masnick is green with envy?

Ronald J. Riley,

President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org

Other Affiliations:
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 30 Oct 2011 @ 5:43pm

BS Experts / Re: Wow.
"Mike said "bullshit".

"Mike's pissed."

Actually, I think that Mike is an expert at BSing and that when he starts talking about BS we should all pay attention.

After all, being an expert at BS is an essential skill for spinning PR and pushing big business propaganda.

Ronald J. Riley,

President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org

Other Affiliations:
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2011 @ 9:44pm

Re: BS Experts / Re: Wow.
ehh, You should see the "Patent your invention" scammers who call themselves experts. What a sleazy lot they are.
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 1 Nov 2011 @ 5:18am

Re: Re: BS Experts / Re: Wow.
We have been addressing invention promotion fraud for well over a decade. There are several hundred web pages exposing various questionable companies and the people behind those companies at www.InventorEd.org/caution.

Historically, invention promoters fleece inventors for typically $10,000 to $50,000. The highest I have seen was about $300,000. The industry is raking in about $500 million a year.

There are legitimate invention promotion companies but they do not advertise. Those who do advertise usually are at best worthless and at worst outright frauds.

Up until about five years ago the biggest risk of becoming entangled with a promote was loss of money. But today there is a very slick promoter who appears to filing patents on other people's inventions. That promoter appears to be closely associated with the USPTO and David Kappos.

Aspiring inventors should never disclose their inventions to others until they have at least a provisional patent application filed. Even then, disclosure is risky. There are far more hucksters and asset thieves then there are inventors and most inventors have minimal business experience, making them easy prey.

Our nonprofit, InventorEd.org provides extensive resources for aspiring inventors, including a list server where inventors can get one on one help. The list server is Inventors-L @ InvEd.org (Remove extra spaces in address). To join send a message to that address which includes your name, address, phone number and a brief description of what your interests are. Do not disclose your invention unless you have an issued patent.

Ronald J. Riley,

President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org

Other Affiliations:
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.
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