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Apple Patented by Microsoft
An anonymous reader writes "C|net is reporting that Microsoft received a patent on Tuesday for a new variety of apple tree. U.S. Plant Patent 14,757, granted to Robert Burchinal of East Wenatchee, Wash., and assigned to Microsoft, covers a new type of tree discovered in the early 1990s in the Wenatchee area, a major commercial apple-growing region. Dubbed the 'Burchinal Red Delicious,' the tree is notable for producing fruit that achieves a deep red color significantly earlier than other varieties. It is sold commercially as the 'Adams Apple.'" Apparently, the assignation of the patent to Microsoft was an error. Or so they would have us believe ...
MS Air, the most breatheable air you can find arround. Decreased cost on large volume orders of our EULAir licences.
...this is a joke, right? Seriously, if the patent office is given out patents for naturally growing TREES, something is wrong.
Speaking of plant patents: Which patented plant are they smoking at the patent office.
Good for him/her, if you spend all your time scowling at Microsoft your face will freeze that way. Ya gotta smile from time to time. :)
Sun patents the Moon, news at 11...
Unfortunately, in order to eat this apple you're going to have to have two mouths, 350 teeth, and the stomach the size of a small child.
The Human Cow - bringing you scrumtrelescence since 1995
...this goes under the 'Apple' slashdot section?!?
A Microsoft spokesman refused to comment on the substance of the error, but alluded to a secret project named "Money Tree". When corrected that money does not in fact grow on trees, but rather on bushes and shrubs, the Microsoft spokesman paused in contemplation, then ran quickly to his car shouting "Eureka!". Microsoft stock finished up 1/4 to land at 26.30.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
A Microsoft representative confirmed that the assigning of the patent to the company was a mistake..
The article does go on to discuss the huge inventory of legitimate tech patents that Microsoft has and how they plan to license more of same.
But the software giant has been a prolific patent generator in other areas. The company embarked on a campaign late last year to generate more revenue from its patent portfolio, offering to license widely used inventions such as its ClearType font technology and FAT storage format.
I think that the writer thought "Microsoft patenting Apple" was a humorous intro to Microsofts rather deep pile of patents.
Happy Trails!
Erick
http://www.busyweather.com/
"Apple patented by Microsoft."
"sold commercially as the 'Adams Apple'"
We need some more, like...
"Just some more worms for Microsoft"
"Do they have plans for authentication?"
"Microsoft shows the softer side of a monopoly"
...and so on...
webpage
I knew the patent office was slow, but dang. April Fools day was over a month ago...
Apple (AAPL) registered a patent for a new device designed to transmit radient energy from the sun from outside houses to the interior of the house, using 4 glass pieces affixed in a wooden frame. Apple calls their new development a "Window". Apple stock finished up 1/2 to wind up at 26.65
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
What kind of (tree based) data structure is this? How would one go about making it AVL? ...and I thought B-Tree was bad.
$cat
Why should Microsoft have to file a certificate of correction? The process is wrong - What if Microsoft decided 'Hey, we are going to keep the patent. You just try to take it back'. It is the patent office's mistake.
<tinfoilhat place="on">What if the copies of Microsoft Office that were sold to the Patent Office were given a hidden feature of inserting Microsoft into patents that matched specific keywords?</tinfoilhat>
--jeff++
ipv6 is my vpn
Said an unnamed representative from the USPTO, "Oops, sorry, that one was supposed to go to Monsanto. Honestly, keeping track of evil amoral corporations these days is a real Pain-in-the-Ass(R)."
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Does this mean I should expect the blue sky of death?
This is exactly why we should take a serious look at whether the United States should have a patent office at all.) required something governmental to effectively reward the researcher.
The original concept of the patent system was fine in an era or rural agriculture and home shops. The economics of Perfect Competition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_competition
Today that is quite different.
The small, lone inventor is now a myth because 1) research on technical things (Software Patents aside, those are just bad period.) is done now by large universities and businesses who only can license other technologies and pay the research. 2) the patent application system is prohibitively expensive for any small player. Furthermore, so many applications are filed a year, the office spends about 17 hours an application. 17 hours is not enough to have a generally education person (not even necessarily someone in the field) to take a serious look at the invention. The only way one can compete with a patent is through cross-licensing one technology for another which allows the companies in competition to produce the same product. That makes the patent system moot to all but those entering the market, who get screwed.
The argument goes on, but for the sake of briefness I'll cut it off there at a gross generalization.
Why, for the sake of God's Green Earth, can anybody claim a patent on something that has grown in the ground, DISCOVERED (not invented), and not researched. I don't care, quite frankly, who discovered it, I want to know if there was any human invention in its creation. If there isn't, the patent system has failed on a fundamental level because it's. Not. An. Invention.
Are there any nations with sane copyright, patent, and other laws?
New Microshatter windows! They spontaneously shatter, allowing you to enjoy the deep blue sky (hereby trademarked as the Blue Screen of Delight)! Pick one up today! And another! And another....
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
I would like to contest that it was I and I alone who invented the apple tree and as such I will be suing.
-God
Esoteric reference.
...but then I got hungry.
With 800,000,000 patents day they just assume it's for MS and then sort it out after, it actually saves money that way.
Like this...
Almost all apple seeds will bear crab apples if planted, so a tree that bears edible fruit in the wild is truly unique. Orchard trees are grafts, usually they have a crab root (or another suitable apple tree) and the fruiting portion is whatever type is desired. Very few apple trees self pollinate so crab apples(which stay in bloom longer), or other varieties that are in bloom at the same time as the variety planted are needed nearby. All that's needed to finish the mix is a healthy hive of bees.
Oh Come on, at least I didnt say "Imagine a beowolf cluster of these"
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Life forms should NEVER be patented.
This includes whole species, DNA strands, theoretical life forms, THE LOT.
Companies have NO RIGHT to be patenting life itself, which should be held sacred above all else, for philosophical, ecological and societal reasons.
THAT MEANS YOU, MONSANTO!
I don't think that word means what you think it means.