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IBM Patents Web Page Templates
jalefkowit writes: "More follies from the US Patent & Trademark Office ... now IBM has been awarded US Patent #6,304,886 for software that automatically "generates [a] customized Web site without the Web site creator writing any HTML or other programming code", based on "a plurality of pre-stored templates, comprising HTML formatting code, text, fields, and formulas" that are then customized through the process of asking the user a few questions. In other words, they've patented the ubiquitous wizards found in FrontPage and other newbie-oriented HTML editors. This was submitted to the USPTO on June 19, 1998 -- surely someone out there knows of prior art for this?"
more like thats how we ended up with osama
Well I guess that's too bad for you. IBM had the bright idea to patent it. ;-) I realize there's probably going to be prior art and it'll be invalidated, but IMHO, you snooze you lose. People shouldn't take things they do so lightly. If you do something that you consider new and innovative, rush out and patent the idea. It just may make you a million dollars some day.
The chance of getting your patent granted and the speed with which this is accomplished has nothing to do with the merits of the application.
On the contrary it's a function of the "Apple Pie" rating of the patent filer. The "Apple Pie" rating is a metric of how American the patent filer is.
For example, IBM and Microsoft are large well-established US corporations whose activities are likely to benefit the US government and economy in general. Thus, their Apple Pie rating is high and patents are granted without a second thought.
Contrast this to a foreign company held in an Allied company such as Britain, Germany or Australia. Such companies would have a much lower Apple Pie rating but would be prioritised above an applicant from Iran or the Sudan.
Essentially it's legal intellectual piracy. The patent office is riddled with incompetence and corruption. No-one notices since it's not immediately obvious what the stakes are.
IBM alone files thousands of patents a year. Ever wonder just what obvious, predated, prior-art patents they've got a lock on. Go on in and have a look. The malfeasance of the US patent office is both astonishing and disgusting.
Welcome back to the shitlist!
Err... don't bitch about the murderers committing murder - THEY ARE INTENDED TO DO THAT. Don't bitch when a rapist attacks your sister - THEY DON'T CARE. Instead, bitch about the stupid laws which allow and encourage them to do this and the juries who keep them in business.
Basically, you wish to excuse the perpetrator of great wrongs from rebuke simply because they're abusing the system? That all the blame lies on the designers of that system? I'd say the blame lies least on the government, more on the citizens which have allowed their government to run amok, and most on the corporations which abuse the citizenry's ignorance. To dismiss their heinous actions as being their "nature" is the height of stupidity. I agree, though, that the problem is aggravated by our government. The people have lost control of their representation because their wallets weren't big enough, and their convictions too weak.
Fuck IBM.
And, hell, while at it, fuck the patent office with a broomstick.
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