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Microsoft Patents Grouped Taskbar Buttons
I_am_Rambi writes "According to the US Patent office, patent #6,756,999 belongs to Microsoft. The patent this time is grouping taskbar icons processes. This is included in Windows XP, and some prior art in X. Looks like it was accepted two days ago."
"Grouping in the taskbar has to be one of the most annoying "Features" ever seen in a taskbar."
It is? Funny, I've found it quite useful when having tons of windows open. Is my personal opinion insightful, too?
"Derp de derp."
Even if you had thought of it years before, not everyone did. And they still had a right to patent it since you didn't, and you didn't implement it.
Perhaps you should take a look at what is supposed to be patentable before you warm up your fingers.
Two aspects of patent - it must be NOVEL, and it must be NON-OBVIOUS.
You figure this as both "NOVEL" and "NON-OBVIOUS"?
Neither do I, and that's why the complaining.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
Auto-hide:
Anything that give me more screen real estate and hides things I'm not looking at anyway is a Very Good Thing.
I didn't spring for the bigger monitor just to fit more clutter.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
"Secondly, who wants to go challenge such a useless patent in court? I mean, principles aside, if someone did, we would be able..."
The problem is that the Patent Office takes the attitude of, "The courts will rule on it if it's a bad patent", while the courts take the attitude, "It's patented, therefore they must have a valid claim on it", so it's a catch 22 for anyone who has to challenge it. This means that it needs to be challenged now, while it's a new, fresh patent, and while the collective "we" can come up with examples of prior art that are confirmable before the application was placed. If we don't do this, in a few years once history has been somehwat obfuscated over time it'll be harder and harder to challenge, and the patent holder might actually win if the people against the patent don't have what they need to challenge it properly.
Until we change either 1) the patent office or 2) the courts, we'll continue to have to fight this. I'm personally in favor of changing the patent office, requiring a given posting on "to be approved" patents giving a timeframe like six months for the pending patent to be challenged. This would keep the USPTO from being overworked by actively having to research themselves, yet would give the community a way to fight against stupid and overly constraining patents, or to help prevent patents on "well, duh!" types of things.
Of course, we really just need to abolish software patents altogether, but that's another argument.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.