GeoWorks Patents Wireless Web Browsers

rhysweatherley writes "GeoWorks are at it again. They have just received US patent 6,173,316 on "Wireless communication device with markup language based man-machine interface", even though others have been doing the same for quite some time. After claiming to own WAP last year, this just gets me mad. Prior art reviews in the patent office are obviously not working." Ya know, it seems to me that taking something that already exists (Markup Languages) and changing some detail of the transfer mechanism (Ether? Cable? TCP/IP? AppleTalk? Post-it notes) just isn't a valid patent. But hell, lets start filing patents on every common net application, and any conceivable combination of layers from the OSI 7-Layer model. We only need to win a lawsuit on one of them to retire in bermuda.

Comments

Re:This sounds like a case for the Geek Mafia!

[Raptor CK]

Quake controlled robots, duh!

Let's see... synchro drive to move like a quake character does, some kind of jump jet or hydraulic jumping "foot", and a series of arms, each holding a weapon!

Then just link it up (wirelessly, of course), and use a quake-like interface!

Of course, if you do this wirelessly, would it infringe on the GeoWorks patent? That'd be ironic. "15 slaughtered by rampaging patent. Film at 11."

Raptor

Re:Patents overly broad

[Shotgun]

Woe!! A stray less than sign got my original post trashed. Shoulda previewed.

I wrote a small application ( less than 300 lines) that would create a mosaic. A list of pictures was used to simulate a master picture. I wrote it one evening and it doesn't do anything spectacular. It looks at a region on the master image and finds which of the small images match that region the best, then fills in the corresponding area on the output image. The exact same thing a person would do with a shoebox full of prints. I did this because I didn't know what to get my rich brother-in-law for Christmas. So, I got him something he already had...his own pictures in a different format.

Guess what? It's the process is patented. Something I, just an average Joe with no work experience in the graphics industry and only minimal hobbiest experience, can design and write an application for in one eventing is patentable. Hell, if the patent had mentioned an obscure matching algorithm I would have been impressed. Instead the algorithm used a distance-vector to find the closest match.
determine the best available matching source image by computing red, green and blue channel root-mean square error.
Well, no shit, Sherlock. How else do you find the distance between two points.

What's more, I had the brilliant ideas of storing the digital image on a hard disk and producing output with a printer. I even displayed the image on my screen, but the patent covers all that too.

I've had several ideas how to make money with the program selling a service (ie, actually doing something that contributes to society), but it would appear that I'm blocked by a patent that has bogus claims. Tell me again how this benefits society.

My question to /.:
Do I proceed with my business plans, and explain to the court that doing something with a computer in the same way that it is done in real life is not novel when the lawsuit comes in? Or do I meekly walk away, ignoring the possibility of creating jobs and wealth and generally expanding the economy? What happens when the system gets so out of whack that no one pays attention to it, like those laws against sodomy and extra-marital sex?

For the curious, patent# 6,137,498

Yeah, but it was filed THREE years ago

[AntiFreeze]

I know that this patent coming out now seems a little fishy, but looking over the page at delphion.com, it says the patent was filed on April 8, 1998. This was almost three years ago, and wireless devices with access to the internet were pretty scarce, if not non-existant back then. If my memory serves me correctly, it wasn't until late '99/early '00 that wireless devices with internet access became as well known as they are today.

I just think that the date the patent was filed adds a new dimension to how it should be looked at. Sure, it wasn't granted until Jan 9th, 2001, but that's due to the United States Patent Office, not GeoWorks.

Dear GeoWorks:

[M-2]

Thank you for your submission for immigration from the Earth. We have, at this time, detemined the Ravenous Giant Space Goat is approaching quickly, and have placed you on the 'B' Ark. Your cutting-edge legal department has earned you this exciting place on the first Ark to be launched!

Please report to the launch site in Indonesia near Krakatoa (see map) no later than March 1, 2001, for in order to be properly processed and boarded.

We thank you for your submission and are certain that you and your other people on the 'B' Ark will help make New Earth a success!

Regards, The Society For The Preservation Of Earth.
----

This sounds like a case for the Geek Mafia!

[TheOutlawTorn]

Think about it. A bunch of vigilante geeks dressing up in black combat gear, performing guerilla hit and run operations on the corporate headquarters of idiot companies like Geoworks and Altavista. The group could carry paintball guns and balloons filled with shaving cream. No permanent damage would be done, but the message sent....

New Innovation

[fantom_winter]

I would just like to announce that I have just recieved a patent on finger-operated input devices, but I've decided to make it Freeware, so if you are reading this message, please send me a postcard and a 5 pound brick. I'll pay the postage. Here's my address:

General Information Services Division

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Crystal Plaza 3, Room 2C02

Washington, DC 20231

Or you can call and say hello. I love getting threatening and perverted phone calls:

1-800-786-9199

wont work.

[gagganator]

i already own the patent on the frivolous interchange of transport mechanisms in order to create new art for the purpose of wealth generated cesation of work