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1.  

   Does this work for me too?

   

   Adam, Mar 30th, 2006 @ 3:34pm

   
   

   I'd like to file a patent for good manners and thinking before speaking, based on the fact that I was not embarrassing to America when I was in England a couple weeks ago.

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2.  

   

   yossi, Mar 30th, 2006 @ 4:01pm

   
   

   They are only doing this to keep any other company from makeing a program to do just this.

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3.  

   Re:

   

   Anonymous Coward, Mar 30th, 2006 @ 4:13pm

   
   

   And why exactly do you think they would want to prevent that?

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4.  

   M$ data removal tool

   

   markbnj, Mar 30th, 2006 @ 4:30pm

   
   

   Micro$uish already released a tool to strip all meta data from word/excel/ office files

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5.  

   Re: M$ data removal tool

   

   Anonymous Coward, Mar 30th, 2006 @ 7:27pm

   
   

   And then it inserts metadata about with what removed the metadata :P

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6.  

   Interesting?

   

   Jeremy Boyd, Mar 30th, 2006 @ 7:53pm

   
   

   It will be interesting to see if this application is granted.
   
   Really? Because you've written a lot, Mike, about the USPTO's total incompetence in determining the worthiness of various patents. If this patent is granted, it's another in a long stream of dubious (if not preposterous) patents. If it isn't granted, what will be interesting is the PTO's reasons behind the decision.
   
   If I were a betting man, I know where my money would be...

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7.  

   Re: Does this work for me too?

   

   adam, Mar 30th, 2006 @ 9:25pm

   
   

   I like to file a patent for being an idiot

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8.  

   Re: Re:

   

   DWBjr, Mar 31st, 2006 @ 2:29am

   
   

   I might have my sarcasm radar on the blink, but I was thinking they were shooting for prevention too. The notion that someone might come out with software that strips out embarassing metadata to show people, is something that could haunt MS in the future. People already have noted that MS word has screwed people that have radically changed the tone of a Word formatted letter, only to have the recepient of the document find the previous versions, still present in the document. Suddenly MS software becomes a liability. --Ok, well... maybe not "suddenly".

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9.  

   Thats why they're rich.

   

   John, Mar 31st, 2006 @ 7:47am

   
   

   Make and sell software that has a really big fuck-up built in.
   Make really big fuck-up removal tool.
   Patent same so that only you can profit from really big fuck-up.
   Brilliant.
   People still buy this shit.
   Not brilliant.

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10.  

    Re: Does this work for me too?

    

    Someone on the West Coast, Apr 1st, 2006 @ 12:19am

    
    

    Nope, I was non-embarrassing last September so I beat you to the common-law 'patent by use' on that one...but thank you for playing :P

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