DoubleClick Banner Ad Patent Busted

RWoody writes "Noticed today that BountyQuest paid $10 Grand to a porn king for info on the DoubleClick banner ad patent. As always, the porn guys were way ahead of the curve: he had an ad affiliate program long before DoubleClick. Also noticed that they started going after copyrights as well as patents. Not much help for Napster, but I bet there are plenty of companies being pushed around by bogus copyrights, just like with bogus patents."

Comments

Captain Obvious Rides Again

[SubtleNuance]

Simple Logic: Why doesnt the Patent Office fire up a Slashcode based website and give the community-at-large an opportunity to diffuse patents *before* they are issued?

If disclosure is a problem - just issue ALL (*everything* not just technology) patents with a 2-3-4mos. 'community review period. Simple. No more bad patents.

p0rn and pri0r art.

[Black Parrot]

I understand that the p0rn industry also has prior art on lots of innovative ways to make babies, including methods that aren't obvious to every skilled worker in the field.

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Tennis patents

[mystery_boy_x]

Maybe BountyQuest can have a look at this patent
(from http://www.abanet.org/journal/mar01/fstate.html)?

Similarly, Serena and Venus Williams could clobber Kevin and George Repper in a doubles match on a tennis court. The Reppers, though, could force a rematch in federal court if the swinging sisters dared to appropriate their patented tennis stroke. As described in the abstract of patent No. 5,993,336 (Nov. 30, 1999), this technique consists of wearing kneepads and swatting the ball "either while the covered knee is on the tennis court surface or just prior to the knee contacting the tennis court surface." This innovation "enables a player to successfully return balls that otherwise are out of effective stroking reach," the patent claim concludes.

Someone prove prior art by posting a picture of yourself wearing kneepads

Gotta love those porn guys...

[wrinkledshirt]

You know, seriously, part of me wonders just how much innovation over the internet has come as a direct result of the demands of the porn industry. I mean, where else is personal security being violated more of an embarassment? Where else are video demands as high? I remember when our government office was looking at having some of their meetings broadcast live over the internet, and were wondering if it was possible, and I wanted to say, "Sure! Heh heh, just check out this site over here..."

Patent NOT busted

[Anonymous Coward]

Get your headline right. BountyQuest has identified what it thinks is prior art. As the article states, the patent stands until either a court or the USPTO invalidates it. It appears that geeks know of the law what lawyers know of code.