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Microsoft Patenting IM Translation?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the pipe-through-babelfish-equals-patent dept.

theodp writes "The USPTO just published Microsoft's patent application for a Method and system for translating instant messages, in which the software giant demonstrates how an English-speaking sender can type 'Hi' in an IM and it will be translated to 'Hola' for a Spanish-speaking recipient."

11 of 446 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Prior art? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Even more obvious prior art: Kopete (kde instant messenger) has a plug-in that already does this.

  2. Prior Art by bflong · · Score: 5, Informative

    Kopete has a plugin for this already in CVS. I've been using it for the past few days. Kopete is really comming along nicely.

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    Why is it so hot? Where am I going? What am I doing in this handbasket?
  3. prior art by krokodil · · Score: 4, Informative

    Fire does that.

  4. Prior Art? by VValdo · · Score: 5, Informative

    This patent was filed on December 28, 2001. Version 0.29.a of the fantastic GPL'd instant messenger Fire introduced "Automatic, inline foreign language translation" on December 12, 2001.

    I would also imagine that the feature was in CVS and publically downloadable before that.

    W

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    This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  5. Let's see a model! by Helpadingoatemybaby · · Score: 4, Informative
    In the old days, up until 1870, the patent office required models to accompany a patent application.

    1836 -- The Patent Act of July 4, 1836 reestablished the examination system of 1790. Models were once again required by the Commissioner. "The model, not more than 12 inches square, should be neatly made, the name of the inventor should be printed or engraved upon, or affixed to it, in a durable manner."

    It was left to the commissioner of patents on whether or not he wanted to request a model. This case absolutely screams to the model requirement. In my opinion, for technology patents certainly, a person should not be able to patent something that they have no model for.

    Microsoft is probably the least able to produce this product. Translation software? Show us that you have this technology. (Yeah right.) You want to translate on the fly on text filled with abbreviations and slang?

    Okay, show us that you can do this. Show us your model (AND make it no more than 12 inches square!). Given their record breaking incompetence, there is no way in God's green acres that Microsoft has this technology workable or will have it in the near future.

    Maybe a commissioner of patents write in campaign would fix all of these software problems up?

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    The baby's fine -- please stop sending business cards.

  6. Re:1337? by katsushiro · · Score: 5, Informative

    Let me help you out here: Normal to 733t5p34k translator.

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    "Two things are infinite: the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the first one." - Albert Einstein
  7. FBI needs training to learn IM by angle_slam · · Score: 4, Informative
    Sort of off-topic, but a lot of joke posts here are saying how difficult it is to translate IM. How difficult is it? The Washington Post had an article describing how FBI agents trying to catch pedophiles are being trained by 13 year old girls to learn how to use IM to act like a teenage girl. Some quotes:
    As undercover assignments go, posing as a teenage girl online to catch pedophiles has its share of challenges for the typical FBI agent. Should he ever capitalize words in instant messages? Is it okay to say you buy your clothes at 5-7-9? And what about Justin Timberlake? Is he still hot or is he so two years ago?

    [snip]

    Most of their classmates did not know about their FBI work until yesterday, when Bald commended them on their achievements. Thanks to the girls, Bald said, the FBI has gathered such valuable information as: never begin a chat with "hello"; never use proper grammar in instant messages; and "pos" stands for "parent over shoulder."

    If adult humans need to learn how to speak IM, how can a computer?
  8. Been available for Mac OS X for over an year by pedroziviani · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been using for a few years a fantastic multi-protocol IM client for Mac OS X called Fire.

    It has had automatic translation capabilities in several languages for well over an year, and it works very well. Further more, Fire also supports AIM, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo, IRC protocols.

  9. IBM was demonstrating this 3 or 4 years ago by scottme · · Score: 3, Informative

    They have/had a product, Lotus Translation Services for Sametime, that plugs into their Sametime IM system and does translation by interfacing to some separate tranlsation server, such as their own WebSphere Translation product. They even have a demo of it on the web.

    There may be detail differences in the implementation that the Microsoft patent application describes, but in general this is nothing new.

  10. MITRE's simple instant messaging by luc_sky · · Score: 3, Informative

    But it's alredy licensed by the MITRE corp. :-) http://www.mitre.org/news/releases/02/transclick08 _14_02.html, it's called Translingual Instant Messaging (TrIM).

  11. Diplomat by samx · · Score: 4, Informative

    An IRC client called Diplomat has done this at least since 1998. Looks like the site is gone now, but can still be found using the way back machine: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.universe.c om