Microsoft Got Your (Patented) Tongue?

from the patently-absurd dept

theodp writes "According to USPTO documents published Thursday, Microsoft is seeking a patent for permanently banning verbal communication to and from selected parties without the parties' knowledge." To be clear, the patent is for blocking voice communication in a game -- to be used in situations such as where a parent wants to prevent a kid from being verbally abused in an online game. Of course, that still doesn't seem like the sort of thing that should be patentable (how do we define obvious again?).

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