Slashdot Mirror
You Might Be a Microsoft Patent Infringer
theodp writes "Do you use drop-down menus, alphanumerical input boxes, check boxes, radio buttons or sliders to allow client side-processing of data? Utilize SQL, HTML, ActiveX, Java, Perl, JavaScript or JScript to do so? Employ arrays, stacks, queues, linked lists, or decision trees to organize things? Well Bunky, you might be infringing on Microsoft's new patent for Dynamically adjusting data values and enforcing valid combinations of the data in response to remote user input, which the USPTO granted Tuesday after 6+ years and two rejections."
"Microsoft Patents 1, 0"
will be hard to prove on this one. Good grief. What is next, a patent on oxygen?
"All I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power." - Ashleigh Brilliant
That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. They might as well try patenting the advanced, new technology called "thought"... that way they don't have to file a patent for anything new in the future when they want to take control over any new ideas. Next thing we know, they will be trying to take credit for writing Romeo and Juliet and say that it's been embedded in the Windows source since before Shakespeare was born.
Hey, maybe this means that MS can stop Slashdot from keeping track of how many mod-points I have.
After all, Slashdot "[d]ynamically adjust[s] data values and enforc[es] valid combinations of the data in response to remote user input."
which the USPTO granted Tuesday after 6+ years and two rejections
They've successfully reduced Patent Examiner incompetence to 1 out of 3
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Employ arrays, stacks, queues, linked lists, or decision trees to organize things?
Finally some gain for not learning anything at school.
Everyone loses I gain.
Just so you know. It's not a matter of maybe.
That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.