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Charlie Northrup's One-Man Patent Grab Continues

Posted by timothy on from the and-now-with-only-one-eye-open dept.

FirstEdition writes "Will this never end! Linux Business & Technology writes that Charlie Northrup, the guy in New Jersey whose prior art on what looks to be Web services dates back to 1994 and appears to trump anybody else's IP, has gotten another patent. Of course, he has transferred the IP to a spin off company populated mostly by lawyers. More details here."

13 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. hmmm..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    i wonder if bruce schneier's recent cryptogram about dos'ing someone via postal mail would be useful in this situation. this guy's address is listed on the patent.

  2. I'm just going to ignore him by Wee · · Score: 3, Funny
    He'll go away eventually, like a wart on your toe. Or Muammar Khadafi. Or something.

    -B

    --

    Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.

  3. woo hoo by DanThe1Man · · Score: 4, Funny

    Charlie doesn't like to talk in terms of suing people, but says it may be advantageous to Web services players such as IBM, Microsoft, BEA, Sun and the service providers to have a license

    Woo hoo! Lawyer fight! I can't wait to watch this on court TV. I wonder which side will get Johnny Cochran

    1. Re:woo hoo by Telastyn · · Score: 4, Funny

      They should just have a draft. Whichever company had the worst record last year gets the first pick this year of Law School seniors [and choice undergrads going pro early].

      Of course there's always the usual signing problems and draft day trades...

    2. Re:woo hoo by DanThe1Man · · Score: 3, Funny

      I wonder which side will get Johnny Cochran

      Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, you must now decided whether to reverse the decision for my client Chef. I know he seems guilty, but ladies and gentlemen... (pulling down a diagram of Chewbacca) This is Chewbacca. Now think about that for one moment -- that does not make sense. Why am I talking about Chewbacca when a man's life is on the line? Why? I'll tell you why: I don't know.

      It does not make sense. If Chewbacca does not make sense, you must acquit!

      (pulling a monkey out of his pocket) Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey! (one of the juror's heads explodes)

  4. In other news... by YahoKa · · Score: 4, Funny

    A patent on the "Use of Common Sense to Solve Real-World Problems" was recently granted.

  5. Wait! I've got a patent! by flyneye · · Score: 4, Funny

    just got it,it's the Charlie Northrup action figure.
    It flouts the constitutional spirit of patents,its head spins round and round,spits up pea soup and cries f**k me!f**k me!f**k me!
    realistic skin and two openings(somewhat indistinguishable from each other)

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  6. Re:WTF? by Old+Uncle+Bill · · Score: 3, Funny

    Your BBS didn't run TCP/IP? Loser...

    --
    Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
  7. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  8. Re:Any company by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cool. Does that include the US government?

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  9. Re:uhh by istartedi · · Score: 4, Funny

    The worst part about these kinds of stories is the avalanche of posts making bad jokes ("I'm going to patent air! I'm going to patent the alphabet!"),

    Don't worry. I hold the patent on making jokes about patenting things that can't be patented, and will be contacting the aforementioned parties shortly.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  10. IP is IP!!! by corebreech · · Score: 1, Funny

    He's invented IP!

    As in TCP/IP!

    What an amazing individual!

    And look, he did it decades after the fact!

    --
    Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
  11. hey by Mr.Happy3050 · · Score: 3, Funny

    You make a "company populated by lawyers" sound like a bad thing.

    --
    "All great truths begin as blasphemies." -George Bernard Shaw