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Bezos Seeks Amazon Honor System-Related Patents

Posted by Hemos on from the ebay-comes-a-shaking dept.

theodp writes "When Amazon's Honor System debuted, some questioned if Amazon would try to patent it. More than 18 months later, the USPTO has provided the answer with the 8-29 publication of patent applications 20020120568 ("User-to-user payment service with payee-specific pay pages") and 20020120567 ("Hosted services for collecting payments from and providing personalized content to web site visitors"). Both list Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as an inventor and use the Amazon Honor System to illustrate a commercial implementation of the inventions." Hmm...wouldn't eBay's point system be prior art in this situation?

6 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Prior Art by tuxedo-steve · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Hmm...wouldn't eBay's point system be prior art in this situation?
    If someone does have evidence of prior art in a case like this, is there some procedure for bringing it to the attention of the patent office? I mean, we obviously can't rely on the good people at the USPTO to do their homework - surely it's in the best interests of the tech community to do it for them, in cases like these?

    If someone knows of prior art, posting it on Slashdot is not going to help. It needs to be nipped in the bud, by putting it in the face of these patent-happy bureaucrats.
    --
    - SMJ - (It's not just a name: it's a bad aftertaste.)
  2. Donations / Payments by z_gringo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the article:

    Dubbed the Amazon Honor System, the new payment method will allow Web sites to solicit small donations from visitors or charge for content on a pay-per-view basis. The system will tie into Amazon's one-click payment feature and Amazon's customer database, meaning that third-party Web sites will seemingly recognize Amazon customers and make it easy for them to donate money.

    That makes it sound like it's just for donations. However, with a "user-to-user" payment system that really works, It sounds like a great market might be in international money transfers. I mean Wester Union charges $30 and up to send money. A few others are somewhat cheaper, but this would be dramatically cheaper.

    Oddly, from reading the article, it doesn't sound like anyone over there has even thought of that angle..

    It sounds like a good idea to me...

    --
    -- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
  3. *sigh* by EmagGeek · · Score: 5, Funny
    I can see it now... Now anyone who transacts personal business on the 'net has to pay Amazon for the privelege if they use the "honor system" for payment and shipping... basically, trusting someone will no longer be free.

    The Patent Office has become ridiculous. They'll grant a patent application for just about anything because it generates filing fee revenue.

    I'll file the following Patent now: "Method of generating income by filing obvious patents and suing everyone in sight." That way, I can pay off my student loans....

    *sigh*

  4. Re:Prior Art? by Golias · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Nearly all software creations fail this simple litmus test. It's about time that those of us in the industry lobby congress to establish that only copyright, not patents, should be the protection which software enjoys.

    As long as you are not stealing code, there is nothing unethical about writing a program that does the same thing as somebody else's program. The only "invention" involved would be the versitile Finite State Machine ("the PC", for you patent lawyers), which allows these applications to work.

    I can't take out a patent on a method of using my car to light my house. Likewise, I should not be allowed to patent a new application for my computer.

    IANAL, blah blah blah

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  5. Re:Prior Art? by hburch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can't take out a patent on a method of using my car to light my house

    Are you sure about that?

    All inventions are new application of existing technology (ignore patents on DNA, since that is not always new). You take a bit of this, a bit of that, and pretty soon you have a car.

    Since I program, I think in terms of software. Libraries exist, but I can create a new routine that uses the functions. Just because all I did was find a new application for libraries does not mean I did not create something, nor that what I did not have value.

    To take your argument to the extreme: "I'm sorry, this invention is just a new application for atoms."

    I do agree that "do X with a computer", where X has been around forever does not seem very innovative. On the other hand, if it was not innovative, why was it not done earlier? (no demand, no one pursued, no one had thought of it (but that would make it innovative)). On the other other hand, just because it is innovative does not mean that it should qualify for a patent.

  6. It's *Just* An Application by hawksmoor · · Score: 5, Informative

    As an assistant to a patent attorney, I think I can say that everyone is being a little bit alarmist here. These are patent applications, not granted patents. You can file an application for any old stupid thing, and it will be published. That has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not the patent will be granted. And, while I'd be the last person to say the USPTO is a flawless organization, I can assure you that the examiners do not rubber stamp applications which come from large entities--although I sort of wish they would.