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Dell Infringes on Patent by Selling Overseas?

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the beaten-to-it dept.

senior.wrangler writes "Looks like new evidence that the U.S. Patent Office is hiring monkeys to bulk-approve new patents. DE Technologies has been granted a patent covering international transactions handled over the computer. Here's a quote from their web site: With patent coverage securing 80% of the world 's trading markets, DE Technologies is securing licensing arrangements with international trading participants. Kinda creepy, if you ask me."

6 of 407 comments (clear)

  1. Licensing? WTF? by chochos · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Who the fuck is going to be interested in licensing something that obviously has prior art written all over it? I live in Mexico and have been buying stuff from Amazon numerous times for like 5 years. Does that count as international transactions over the computer?

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  2. Trouble for all? by comwiz56 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The way the summary describes it, doesn't just about any company that does internation business violate this patent?

  3. omfg by ssand · · Score: 3, Interesting

    An international transaction done by a computer. Every online store would pretty much be guilty of this, as would all offline stores who use a computer to send out their merchandise. This is byfar one of the worst ones yet.

  4. Jesus Christ... by k4_pacific · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This may be the big one folks. There is so much prior art for this that its not even funny. Not only that, this is the backbone of the world's economy and its rigorous enforcement may well wake up the world to the problem of broad software patents and bring about quick change to the patent system.

    May it be rigorously enforced for the good of humanity.

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  5. Check out the US Patent Examiner... by cypherwise · · Score: 5, Interesting

    job qualifications.
    :-)

  6. Another Broad Patent by imemyself · · Score: 3, Interesting

    About a week ago, as part of a field trip for Computer Systems in high school, I got to take a tour of one of Engenio's (hard drive controller manufacturer) engineering facilities. On their wall of patents, one of the plaques said it was a patent for "Enclosure". Nothing else, just the word Enclosure. I assume they're talking about some particular method of enclosing hard drive controllers, but still, you'd think the Patent Office would be a little more specific than just "Enclosure".

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