Slashdot Mirror
Software Installation/Update via Internet Patented
RKBA writes "My wife just handed me an article from the Wednesday, October 22, 2003 issue of the Wall Street Journal about a tiny Austin, TX company called Bluecurrent that has been awarded patent No. 6,636,857 covering the Internet installation of any software or settings on new computers. The patent was granted by the USPTO on October 21, 2003. It will be interesting to see if it can be enforced. I think it's time for someone to file a patent on Earth, Fire, and Water. ;-)"
It's official. There is no God, the madness will never end. Kill me now.
I think it's time for someone to file a patent on Earth, Fire, and Water. ;-)
Wind is already patented?
Who did what now?
multiple computers connected by digital communications?
I'm gonna patent Air and Spirit.
I'm sure they are just trying to cash in on the fact that IE will automatically try to download the Flash plugin.
Ah yes, patenting ftp and email to store your own files is sooooooooo much better.
KFG
If they can enforce it they'll make a mint from all those spam/pr0n sites that try to change your homepage settings when you accidentally visit them.
common sense: noun
What those who are ignorant of the subject matter think; usually wrong.
Oh yea, accidentally, I bet.
With your powers combined, I am Captain Patent!!
Insert clever one liner here.
Of course not, you just have to do a quick "rm -rf ~/.*" before you send your home directory to the backup computer. Just remember to "mv ~/.porn ~/porn" before you do that.
well, we're gonna have a hard time /.ing you if you don't give us your IP...
:)
Very nice pun, in a story about patents
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Cause the USPTO employees must be smokin it up!
No, I'm New Here
I wish /.ers would check their facts before screaming how the sky is going to fall on our heads every time the USPTO grants a patent.
/.ers.
It's a catch-22--if they did that, then they wouldn't be
As I said in my last post on the subject, the USPTO and their overlords need large doses of antipsychotics.
I, for one, welcome our new psychotic undermedicated patent-holding Texan overlords.
[ducks]
Likely we will see RIAA style suits instead.
You mean like 12 year olds getting sued for using Windows update?
Any backup software that allows someone to backup part or all of their system including settings and preferences is prior art for this patent.
Also, this is highly obvious. Patents are supposed to be non-obvious.
The problem is that English is such a powerful and flexible language that there are many ways to describe the same technique. While there are many ways to describe it the base method of utilizing it is the same.
1. Save your data to remote computer or alternate disk drive.
2. Do something that could loose data on original computer.
3. Restore data.
4. Be happy (if restore worked).
If only people patent examiners would learn the nature of software, computer technology and complex equilivant meanings in English. Maybe then we'd be spared this.
Modern science is now much more advanced, and clearly states that there are four phases of matter: solid, gasseous, plasma, and liquid.