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Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Fri, Jan 13th 2006 11:46am





Patent Troubles For...Um, The USPTO?

from the whoooooooops dept

W. B. McNamara writes "Ah, the beauty of it all: Peter Zura's excellent Two-Seventy-One Patent blog reports that the USPTO's initiative to grant fewer bad patents, which is to include use of an automated "patent quality index," could be heading for some trouble due to...wait for it, now...a patent covering "a computer-automated method for rating or ranking patents or other intangible assets [...]"." We discussed the new Patent Quality Index earlier this week -- though, it's still unclear if the new system is really automated or what. Still, the idea of the USPTO being involved in possible patent infringement certainly has its amusement value.
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  1. identicon
    The Other Mike, Jan 13th, 2006 @ 12:03pm

    Now that is funny

    Oh the irony... Thanks for the laugh Mike.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    GSA, Jan 13th, 2006 @ 12:12pm

    No Subject Given

    Wow - talk about a conflict of interest! They *could* just revoke the patent and move ahead, but that will only cause the USPTO to sue itself when they realize the organization deciding the matter (the USPTO themselves) is not an arms-length disinterested and unbiased party.
    In other words, HA-HA, you've been Nelsoned.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    AF, Jan 13th, 2006 @ 12:20pm

    No Subject Given

    Good way to cap off a long week. This made my Friday.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Mike S., Jan 13th, 2006 @ 1:05pm

    No Subject Given

    True, this is funny. But isn't it the case that the government is exempted from patent infringement issues in exchange for the patent 'protection' itsself? Isn't that the theory, at least?

    -Mike

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Susheel, Jan 13th, 2006 @ 1:52pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    I believe the government is exempt. They issue the patent after all....

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    ehrichweiss, Jan 13th, 2006 @ 2:22pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    If the government were exempt then there wouldn't have been that huge fiasco over the NTP/RIM case when they were gonna cut off all the Blackberry email. I know they allowed the email for government employees but that wasn't due to the patent office granting it, it was the decision of a judge who determined that a part of the government would shut down and be harmed if they couldn't find a better way. Once that was announced, IIRC, alternative solutions were being investigated.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    BlindSide, Jan 14th, 2006 @ 3:59pm

    Ok I'll say it...

    ROTFLMAO!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Blake, Jan 15th, 2006 @ 2:32pm

    Quickly

    Someone file that patent for "stupid patents" we all keep joking about.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jan 16th, 2006 @ 6:52am

    Re: No Subject Given

    except that here the government is creating and using it. in NTP/RIM they are just buying a product, sure its useful to the government, but they didn't create or maintain it.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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