Using the USPTO Against Itself

fidget42 writes: "This article in the LA Times tells of how a scientist went about using the patent office as a mechanism for trying to force a change in that office's rules. To quote from the article: 'Nearly 10 years ago, a friend called Stuart Newman with an intriguing challenge: Could he think up a new form of life that would be scientifically useful and possible to patent--yet so disturbing that the public would recoil?' Could the same be done with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) concerning software patents? I know some companies have used the rules of the USPTO to 'spoof' it, most notably Despair, Inc.'s trademarking of the frowney."

Comments

Humouse

[Anonymous Coward]

The real thing to ask, is can this be reverse engineered so that we can make the obese american public start running in whells all day?

Re:Humouse

[imr]

Unfortunatly, the whole thing had to be taken down as they released a cease and decist letter from disney claiming they we're infringing their intellectual property of a human/mouse entity designed to increase his owner's wealth, currently named the mickey mouse project.
disney has no humour about humouse.

But You're Missing The Main Objective

[Anonymous Coward]

The site www.uspto.gov is running Netscape-Enterprise/6.0 on HP-UX.

The US Patent Office doesn't run Leenux!!!

To arms, comrades! We must do our duty!

Re:Should this concept be patented?

[Bouncings]

"A Method to Force the USPTO to Behave in a Dignified Manner" perhaps?

Sadly, it can't. A quote from the article: "Patent law does not require them to make a humouse, but they must show it can be done."

I assume the same would apply, and so far there's no evidence to support the idea that it is possible to make the USPTO behave in a dignified manner. Sorry.

I want a Humouse!

[pivo]

Especially if they can make one with a mouse body and a tiny human head, preferably resembling Don Knots.

Re:Should this concept be patented?

[arjennienhuis]

No, you should pattent the opposite:

"Being a PTO and not Behaving in a Dignified Manner"

And sue them for violating your patent

Re:Frowny License is Free for a Limited time....

[horza]

" Just visited Dispair.com and low and behold the Classic Frowny is free to license, for a limited time. No pushing, no shoving, there are plenty to go a round."

Classic example of submarine patents. Tell everyone it's free to use, get it established as a de facto standard, and then POW. They'll probably try and use some kind of viral marketing, for example getting people to embed them in emails (what happened to the days when emails where plain grammar?).

Don't give in. Stick to Open Source emoticons, even if it does involve a length process of installing and configuring a chinese character set.

Phillip.

open source organisms?

[whovian]

Humix? Or would that be GNU/Humix?

Use a Goedel numbers for the Patent Number

[Googol]

Something more subtle could be amusing....

'A novel scheme for patenting software, together with an intended interpretation of its own patent number, such that the patent number can be interpreted in any court of law as "This is not a valid patent".'

This should result in an recursively infinite number of law suits (known to lawyers as the property of omega-illegality). Should bankrupt the PTO. The lawyers are happy; we're happy.

=googol=
In a world where everyone is a slave, only hackers are free.

In mundo, omnibus servibus, soli concidentes liberi.

What needs to added to USPTO's software division

[afflatus_com]

One of these .

Okay

[ghjm]

Here's an idea. Let's see how the shoe fits on the other foot.

1. Apply for a patent for: "A method for the promotion of the sciences and the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

2. Sue the USPTO for infringing your patent.

-Graham