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Microsoft Patents The Broken y-Axis

Posted by timothy on from the what-the-heck-it's-only-a-legal-monopoly dept.

theodp writes "Microsoft was granted a patent Tuesday for Displaying data containing outlying data items, covering the familiar concept of broken y-axis bar charts. Oddly, Microsoft's 2002 'invention' is described in detail in a 1999 listserv post and found its way into scientific journals and other sources before the patent's claims were disclosed. BTW, the patent's term was extended by 269 days, apparently the USPTO's way of apologizing for initially rejecting the patent."

2 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What I meant to say was... by zcat_NZ · · Score: 4, Funny

    Only in a SANE world. The current system is so broken I suspect Microsoft could push through a patent on the wheel or fire, sufficiently obfuscated, and get away with it. Probably the only reason they haven't already is that wheels and fire have very limited use in the world of computer software.

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  2. Damn You Microsoft by Y-Axis+Man · · Score: 1, Funny

    Those bastards! The y-axis is mine! I'm filing a lawsuit. The z-axis is mine too - EA and Sega are next.