Washington Mutual Patents the Bank Branch

ewhac writes "Okay, so it's not a bank branch per se, but a particular kind of bank branch -- one that has play areas for kids, serves coffee and popcorn, and has kiosks instead of teller windows. Washington Mutual has dubbed this branch design, "Occasio" (a generic Latin word meaning, "favorable opportunity," and which has probably been trademarked). The San Francisco Chronicle reports that it may be the first time the USPTO has awarded a patent for the design of a retail store/presence."

Comments

Since when is environment patentable?

[Crudely_Indecent]

I can understand patenting logos, designs, even shoe tread patterns.........but furniture layout?

Ok, I'm going to file for my own patent. I'll call it "Geek Apartment" and it will consist of empty soda cans, dirty laundry, an unmade bed, and between 6 and 14 computers in various states of assembly (all running however).

There's your fair warning, soon you'll all be paying me royalties, or cleaning your apartments.

Re:Since when is environment patentable?

[kunudo]

I think there might be some prior art on that one... :)

However, I have a feeling that that won't stop the USPTO from awarding you your patent...

Re:Since when is environment patentable?

[msobkow]

The environment became patentable when the US government was sold to the corporations through campaign contributions.

You and your vote don't matter to them anymore unless you've got the finances and clout to smack them with a serious lawsuit. Thanks to electronic voting which has no reliable paper trail, the embarassment of the Florida election recounts will be a thing of the past. Now they can just change the history records to ensure the talking head of choice has the presidency.

Looks like William Gibson was right about more than he should have been.

Physical design

[bar-agent]

I'm actually okay with this one. At least this is a patent on something physical, something that can be built.

A retail layout is more like a device to increase sales, than a business method is.

Re:Physical design

[Vicegrip]

A 20 year monopoly on the arrangment of 'stuff' is ok with you?

By the way, I hope you are not infringing my patent on "poor taste furniture" covering such things such as the use of duct tape to cover broken springs.

Also, if you hang up your towels next to your shower, I'm going to sue.

Re:Physical design

[pavon]

Lets look at it another way. If you ask "Is this tolerable?" then there is always an argument that it is, and the system will just continue to get worse, but we will get accustumed to it, and each successive change won't look that bad.

We should instead be asking "Is this necisarry or benificial to society?". That is the whole purpose of patents - to provide individual incentive so that technology progesses quicker than it would otherwise. So ask yourself - did this invention require a large investment to discover that can only be recouped by granting a monopoly on it's use? No. I'm sure discovering the invention itself did not require any substantial investment. Implementing it will but those are normal business costs and don't need to be protected as everyone who implements this idea will have to pay them, not just the inventor.

Do the benifits of having the plans to this invention out in the open, as opposed to it being kept as a trade secret, overweight the detriment of having to wait 20 years to use those plans? No - this is a concept whose details are obvious once implemented and thus there is no chance for the inventor to hoard this idea as trade secret. In other words, the plan will be in the open regardless of whether it is patented or not, so it does not benifit society to wait 20 years for what it could have now.

Would the inventor still have invented this as quickly if patent system did not exist? Yes, and not only that but I am sure the bank would also have implemented the idea even if they couldn't patent it. This patent does nothing to benifit society so there is no reason that a sensible patent system should allow it.

I hearby patent breakfast nook

[mo]

Here's a list of other building layouts that pop into mind as patentable based on this precedent:

• fast-food drive thru
• Ikea's linear flow (start in one spot, pay at the end
• Doctors' offices with the front desk and waiting room and the numerous patients' rooms behind the door.
• Fry's electronics queueing layout with impulse shelves
• Stadium Seating in the movies
• Casino layouts that obscure the exit

I was hoping to one day contract an architect to design a house that perfectly suited my family's needs. It would suck to have to get a patent attorney to check for prior art on my "invention".

Perversion of IP

[PenguinJames]

This is a complete perversion of the concept of Intellectual Property. The US Consitution allows things like patents and other IP "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts". Recent patents granted by USPTO are just absurd, and do not fulfill the original intent of the Consitutional basis for IP in the US.

Laugh it's funny

[Quirk]

England had Monty Python America has the USPTO

Outta hand

[nurb432]

When do we get to hear about a patent awarded for " a method of refreshing spent oxygen in the blood stream of mammals".

Are we surprised?

[Kwil]

I mean, c'mon, the USPTO makes the majority of its money these days on providing and renewing patents. It makes nothing on investigating or refusing them.

So really, the fact that they'll patent anything under the sun should come as no real shock to anybody.

You want to fix the USPTO? Fix how they get funded.

And good luck trying to rob one of these branches!

[the-other-bill]

As one of the droids that installs the servers (OS/2, yay!) and teller tower workstations (XP, locked down within an inch of its life) just let me opine that the primary advantage of the new WaMu Occasio branch design is that the money is just about nowhere to be found. You hand over your cash to the teller and it disappears into a slot just like a Reno blackjack dealer. You won't be changing your mind after that. To get your withdrawl money after your transaction with the teller, you amble over to a large vault on the floor, swipe your card, enter your pin and then the cash spits out into your hands. The tellers never have any money!

We had some clown try to stick up one of the branches here in Seattle and after he finally figured out that there just wasn't any money around to take, all he ever got was some heavy attention from the local constabulary who nabbed him down the road after he tried to hit up some other bank.

I'm guessing that the "unrobbability" is the pantentable part of all this, but I could be wrong. What do I know -- I don't explain'em, I just install'em. And from a geeks point of view, they are clean designs. And having a safe place to stash the rugrat for ten minutes ain't bad either, lemme tellya!