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Court Denies Smucker's PB&J Patent
lbmouse writes "The AP is reporting that on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected an effort by the Jelly & Jam maker to patent its process for making pocket peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." While the company was only trying to patent the "crimping process" used to create a specific type of mass market sandwich, they had also "...asked Albie's Foods of Gaylord, Mich., to stop producing ready-made PB&J sandwiches for a school district".
There's only one way to celebrate...You know it..
IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!
time is a perception of a being's consciousness
time is your 6th sense, the wierd ones are 7+
what do peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have to do with my rights online?
For those that don't RTFA, Smucker actually allready had a patent from 1995, but this rejection "involved two additional patents that Smucker was seeking to expand its original patent by protecting its method." I.e. they still have the original patent for their method of making a P&J sandwich, but "the company's original patent is being re-examined by the patent office."
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
There goes my chances of patenting the BLT.
There goes my patent on grilled cheese.
In a post 9/11 world, police arrest peanut butter and jelly.
I am ready to join the protesters who want to destroy corporate america. The ones who go to G7 meetings and economic forums and fight the nasty police. If some asshole wants to deprive me of the right to a PB&J sandwich because they have a patent, motherfuck them. The corporations have too much power. Too many lobbyists. And the laws are getting rediculous.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
I once saw a show on the television that said the US army already crimps PB&J sandwiches as a type of combat ration... they last for a while, apparently!
There is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. -- Boondock Saints
What right would Smucker's have to ask Albie's to stop making sandwiches? If someone else is already using an idea, can it still be patented? Is the U.S. Patent system really that backwards?
I have to ask, what in the bloody hell is a "pocket" peanut butter and jam sandiwch?
Send lawyers, guns, and money!
And you'd really get into trouble if you tried to make PB&J's with $2 bills...
Digital Sailor
Once again the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has struck a blow for our rights online. We can email each other peanut butter and jelly sanwiches without fear of lawsuits.
a patent on a PB&J with the crust? Has the Patent Office ruled on that, or is this my one chance to sue every person that eats a sandwitch with a crust?
What's for lunch?
I guess my apple pie patent will be denied too.
I don't see what the big interest with this case is. I think the only reason it is getting as much publicity as it is, is because the general public actually understands the patent. The prior art is clear: ravioli, pierogies, pirags, etc.
There are software patents being passed that are 100 times more ridiculous than this, yet you don't hear much about it outside of Slashdot or some short blurb in the tech section of the NYT.
Most of these software patents are just as absurd as patenting a method of making a PB&J sandwich, often worse. A "System and method for creating, processing and managing educational content within and between schools," I mean come on, or a "method and system for processing input from a command line interface."
I wish the general public would realize the ramifications of software patents like these. It is essentially re-patenting the wheel.
...it has to be fraud.
With a name like Smucker's, it has to be, uh, patent pending.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
Smuckers has a picture of them here.
Apparently they are found in the frozen foods aisle of the grocery store as the the page says, "All you do is thaw and serve."
Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
For people who don't like crust. Smucker's Uncrustables
somebody will patent blow jobs, then my wife will have alegal excuse.
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
One of a kind way to make PB&J sandwiches. I hate to tell these asshats, I was making PB and Strawberry sandwiches for ages. When I was younger I used to cut the edge of the bread off, but today I need the extra fiber.
Maybe I should patent that I whipe my ass with the paper going upwards and not downwards. Who knows, maybe I am the only one who knows how to whipe an ass.
Patent examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office disagreed, saying the crimped edges are similar to making ravioli or a pie crust.
Fuck, here comes Chef Boy-R-D and his patent lawyers. Someone tell that 90 year old woman she is no longer lawfully allowed to make her family dinner.
Smucker asked Albie's Foods of Gaylord, Mich., to stop producing ready-made PB&J sandwiches for a school district, but the food manufacturer went to a federal judge in 2001 and then the patent office to invalidate Smucker's original patent. Albie's was "caught off guard, literally, because they didn't think you could patent a peanut butter and jelly sandwich," said the company's lawyer, Kevin Heinl.
Can my girlfriend patent the blow job? She is damn good. She swirls her tounge, head down, but the eyes looking up like a puppy dog. Like "oh dear daddy, I love you". Just like that. Nobody else does it like her. I'd like to get a nickle everytime your girlfriend gives you a blow job.
The patent office received 376,810 patent applications last year. It usually takes about two-and-a-half years for a patent to be processed. About 65 percent of all patents submitted are approved, Quinn said.
There were over 200,000 patents approved last year? Sweet Jesus. I really should get around to a but whipe patent.
"Very few patents are what one would call a 'pioneer patent,' meaning that the inventor discovered something very, very new that has never been discovered before," she said. "Most patents are given to changes to existing technology."
I'll dip the toilet paper in water. That's it.
"We bought a unique idea for making an everyday item more convenient (and) made a significant investment in the idea and in developing the innovative manufacturing technology that makes Uncrustables so easy to use," the company said.
I wonder how this ruling will effect the Pop Tart corporation?
Smucker's stock price fell 30 cents on Friday to close at $49.67 on the New York Stock Exchange.
I can hear Gordon Gekko yelling "Bud FOX, Damn you!". I wish we knew how this PB&J thing really played out.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
This is the real news here -- that the patent office rejected a patent application.
My question is this: if they accepted swinging on a swing as worthy of a US patent, why did the USPTO decide to deny Smuckers this one?
Patent examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office disagreed, saying the crimped edges are similar to making ravioli or a pie crust.
The patent office rejected a ridiculous patent! News at 11.
No, but I have taken a shit, looked at it and thought, "Woah, that was once a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich!".
Your mom said that when I showed her my cock.
Yes, you're right.
One major point on the patent was that, when making a PBJ, the J seeps through the bread. To solve that problem, Smuckers put PB on BOTH pieces of bread.
And patented that!
They got a patent on putting PB on both bread slices instead of just one!
And we wonder how the one-click-order got patented!
This pisses me off. All you geeks are ranting about how you basically shouldn't be able to patent anything. It doesn't matter what the product is that you're making, you should be able to patent a novel process. If I figure out a way to synthesize a new drug I should be able to patent that process. If I figure out a way to put together a toaster faster than my competitor then I should be able to patent that process. No-one is trying to patent peanut butter (paste) and jelly (jam) sandwiches, Smuckers is trying to defend their patent on a particular process they use to make a product that just happens to include these ingredients. You're free to clone their product and compete with them, you just have to come up with your own process to do it. Without this protection any innovation Smuckers puts into improving their process can be just copied by competitors. That means Smuckers cant put any significant amount of investment into refining their process or they'll be undercut by competitors that copy it without cost. That's the justification for patents and without it we wouldn't have all the innovative technology we use every day. Unlike copyright, patents are not about incentives, they're about outright survival in a competitive market place.
How we know is more important than what we know.
A method of making a crustless sandwich from two slices of bread with outer crusts, the method comprising: placing a first slice of bread on a platen; forming a mass of a first food spread onto the central portion of the first slice of bread in a position spaced inwardly from a marginal area where the mass is formed with an inner lower layer with an outer rim extending upwardly from the lower layer to define a closed pocket or receptacle recess in the mass; placing a second food spread in the receptacle recess; closing the receptacle recess with a layer of the first food spread generally coextensive with the mass and supported on the outer rim of the mass to encapsulate the second food spread into a center composite food layer; placing a second slice of bread over the first slice to cover the center composite food layer; cutting the bread slices in unison in a cut pattern to remove the crusts of the slices; and, pressing the two bread slices together by force through the slices against a pressure surface on the platen to crimp the slices into a crustless sandwich.
My mom did, too.
The US Court of Appeals invalidated the patent. The stupid motherfuckers at the patent office actually granted the thing.
It's starting to look like patents are drifting well past their original purpose. Overhaul the system, or ditch the suckers completely.
As long as it NOT with their version of the PB & J! Its horrible!
Patent comes in for a new type of PB&J.
Worker: Hey! I could have thought of that... hell, the wife makes one every Tuesday... DENIED.
Patent comes in for a new "technology." A Web site will have a box labeled Username and one labeled Password, and a Submit button that logs on the user to the Web sites system.
Worker: That sounds complex about computer web site things. Must be some new technology. APPROVED.
What in the hell are they doing trying to patent crimped bread?!
There are so few things about food and cooking that hasn't been done before that I'm willing to believe it has pretty much ALL been done before. This is pretty ridiculous.
On the other hand, they might be making peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches on crimped bread, I'm making jelly and peanutbutter sandwiches on TOAST! Now *that* has to be patentable because I've never heard of it before and it's nothing like a pie crust or ravioli. (Though my secret ingredient might get me into hot water with DuPont... I'm still in negotiations)
Most people breathe, walk, and pee pretty similarly, too.
but don't worry, because hip subscribers get to see the next slashdot story early!
e s_ smucker.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/04/08/court_deni
and they had a picture.
why doesn't slashdot have pictures?
they too good for pictures?
Whatever happened to innovation on slashdot?
read more rants: thunt.net
My single-click peanut butter sandwich patent has yet to be struck down.
I was silent when Microsoft patent XML doc format, but this is something else.
Thanks for the recipe and, more importantly, the pic of your hot mom making the hash browns.
Don't be going to Smuckers online contact form trying to sell them on new ideas to patent.
Just because two guys sold them patents to PB&Js doesn't mean they are stupid.
And especially don't try and sell them a patent on milk in a cylindrical container. I'm already negotiating that one with them now.
Rob Enderle's excellent new book: Everything I needed to know about Computer Science I learned in Marketing School
Why the hell is someone too lazy to make their own PB&J gonna get up, drive to the grocery store and buy these processed, prepackaged pieces of crap? Oh, wait. That's what mothers are for.
My other Sig is
And so April 15 is Poop For Peace Day.
What? Nobody out there has mod points AND a sense of humor? 'Cause this is the funniest friggin thing I've heard in a long time.
loyalty above all, save honor
Make a PB&J..
Go to jail...
Its the law...
How lazy are we as a society, when we can't even spend 1 minute to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Thats what scares me more then this Smuckers patent.
They got a patent on putting PB on both bread slices instead of just one!
Whoa.. That's how I've always made PBJ's. Not because of seepage, but because I LIKE PEANUT BUTTER.
I could've been rich. I could've had a big mansion in LA. I could be bangin' 2 hot chicks at the same time *right at this moment*.
Instead I try and work hard and earn money from my clients by doing a better job faster.
What a chump I am, eh?
Funnier than a dick that post may be, but it is equally off topic.
Have you ever taken a shit, looked at it, and thought, "Woah, that was inside of me a minute ago!"
Happy 5th birthday!
Clinton gave it life, Bush is going ape shit and bananas with it.. this is new the IP economy the U.S. is building and it's economic survival depends on these ridiculous patents. I figure in the 10-12 years congress will reform patent laws in such a way that they last 20 years + the lifetime of the filer (with qualifiers just in case the filer dies/corporation goes bust.) Maybe they'll just knock it up to 80 years, flat out. They did it with copyright, they'll do it with patents... They have to.
You too can have a lifetime monopoly on a method for drinking milk through your nostrils!
Thank you!
Yes!
That's why I always eat my poo!
Let the circle be unbroken!
Do it as unspecific and general as possible then sue everyone with patents to specific sandwichs.
But seriously, how retarded is the USA when you can get sued for making a PB&J sandwich?
That seems like the last straw for all the white trash in trailor parks having sex with their sisters while listening to John Cougar Mellancamp cds. (I wasn't the original troll!)
[cx]
whacking the USPTO upside the head.
Guy1: You got your peanut butter in my chocolate!
Guy2: You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!
Guy3: I own the patent on peanut butter and chocolate! PROFIT$$$$
We responded, now explain vegimite...
especially vegimite sandwiches...
i'm sorry, but am i the only one who things this looks like a pizza pocket...
In a post 9/11 world, even Hulkster's mom looks hot.
Somebody pass me a foie gras and salmon roe pocket sandwich, I'm hungry. Today's theme ingredient is Intellectual Property!
... and then they built the supercollider.
That's actually a good idea.
Except, peanut products cause me to um... die. Now if they could just keep that from happening, that would be awesome!
It seems like a really stupid patent, until you try those sandwiches. They are GOOD. For someone who doesn't like to spend a lot of time cooking (or in the case of the PBJ, getting the components together), and also as a guy who never got over the whole crusts thing (hate them, cut them off, always), this thing is a godsend. Laugh all you like, but try one first.
Earth to lazy-ass, come in lazy-ass.
These things taste like ass, lazy, pre-processed ass
It takes about 90 seconds to put together a real PBJ sandwich and put the remaining components back into storage and lick the knife. To avoid eating crust (what are you 2 years old?) you tear the crust off one side and start eating there until you've eaten out everything but the remaining crust, which you then throw away!
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
...how dancing bananas relate to sandwiches.
Then again, I believe it refers to the actual sandwiching in the dance...or something...damn I've become a sad geek.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
What if the the school district, instead of saying "fuck off" stopped making the sandwiches? How many idiotic fucknozzle patents have to be handed out before the system is acknowledged to be BROKEN?
When peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are outlawed, only outlaws will have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Coding Blog
I could understand it if they had invented a machine that made the sandwiches and then patented the machince, but this is just silly.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Well, I certainly have been practising prior art all my days.
I could've been rich. I could've had a big mansion in LA. I could be bangin' 2 hot chicks at the same time *right at this moment*.
One thing you can always say about Slashdotters: they have one heck of an imagination.
For christ's sake, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is just too much hassle for some people? I'm sorry, but if you're having trouble mastering the recipe for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I'm not really sure you're fit to prepare your own food.
--
the strongest word is still the word "free"
Try Cashew Butter. It costs about two souls per jar, but DAMN it's good.
Unless Smuckers came up with a really unique way of 'crimping the edges' to seal the sandwich, then I'd have to argue against it on the basis of prior art going back to a tool that I first saw back when I was a Boy Scout; it was two metal rods hinged together at one end with handles at the other, sort of like a nutcracker, but the arms were about two feet long. Near the hinge on each rod was a circular dished metal plate. You buttered two slices of bread, put one on one of the plates, added some filling (jam, meat, PB&J, etc), put the other slice on top, and closed the arms; this clamped the two plates together, cutting off the crust and sealing the 'sandwich' inside; you then stuck it into a fire to brown the bread, giving you a sort of pasty or fruit pie (depending on the filling. And this was back in the late '60s, so 'prior art' has been around for a while.
Yes. Sooner or later fellow Americans will get fed up with this kind of nonsense.
Imagine the day when celebrities try to patent hair styles. Geez... Unless we have more rulings like this, it's coming.
Get some.
--
The list is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf.
I can imagine some poor guy repeating that to himself after being stuck on a slowly sinking boat in the Gulf of Mexico for eight years...
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
... the problem is ENFORCEMENT.
We don't need to do anything about patent law. What we need desperately is to do something about proper enforcement of the existing rules.
Patent law forbids granting patents on inventions for which there is prior art. Yet there is a flood of patents for which there is prior art which is against existing patent law.
Patent law forbids granting patents on inventions which are obvious deductions from prior art. Yet there is a flood of patents which do not meet the criteria of non-obviousness, again against existing patent law.
Patent law also forbids granting patents on applications which are not described in enough detail to allow persons skilled in the art to carry out the invention (ie build the apparatus). Yet there is a flood of fuzzy patents which were not specified in the required detail, yet again against existing patent law.
The one primeval problem there is with the patent system today is that enforcement of existing legislation is anywhere from too lax to non-existant. That is the issue we ought to acknowledge and do something about.
The fact that we, the public, do not acknowledge this to be the root cause, that we usually talk nonsense when it comes to patent issues, that we consequently do not lobby for better enforcement, this only works into the hands of those who abuse the system, who take advantage of the lack of enforcement of patent law.
the macintosh asterisk mailing list http://www.astm
Oh shits, April 15! I just got that! That's fucking hilarious!
So that's the trick: Make sure any prior art has already been eaten.
Tell me something. How the hell does "Poop for peace day" get a -1, Offtopic, when " Your mom said that when I showed her my cock" gets a 1, Funny? This is dumber than that fucking peanut-butter and jelly patent. If anybody needs me, I'll be bitching myself to sleep.
Gaylord, Mich.
Heh. Gaylord.
Instead I try and work hard and earn money from my clients by doing a better job faster.
By posting on Slashdot?
Non tam praeclarum est scire Latine, quam turpe nescire
-- Cicero
Only 2 chicks at the same time? What, do you have a heart condition?
The Farewell Tour II
In Soviet Russia Government Patents You!!!
Get your Unix fortune now!
You are mistaken about the justification for patents.
...
The only reason for the patent system is to give incentive to inventors to publish their inventions instead of keeping them secret, thus enriching the public domain. All patents end up in the public domain. It's a BARGAIN, not an award.
Any patent attorney will confirm this. Just ask one. If you don't know any, just google for "patent bargain" or visit the CIPA website (chartered attorneys of patent agents)
http://www.cipa.org.uk/pages/advice-patents
the macintosh asterisk mailing list http://www.astm
probably because it was world news (TV and press) and any other verdict would of been embarrasing (not that other certain events dont seem to embarrass USA already)
we in the rest of the world are still laughing and pointing at you though, see you in court !
They now also make crustless bread for lazy asses like him. Of course, the bread is being marketed to CHILDREN. Original poster, please grow up!
hello dear sirs my name is jamesh i are india (bihar) can u guide me install red had linux 9?
This is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate opposition to patents that never should have been issued in the first place, and for attempting to step on the small businesses with these frivolous patents. Show the companies who use patents such as these to stifle competition and to step on small businesses and add their own tax to consumers' wallets that you will exact a penalty on them if they continue such despicable behavior. The best way to do this is to stop buying Smuckers peanut butter and jelly, and to let them know about it.
While I don't normally buy Smuckers peanut butter, I do buy their jellies. Mostly grape but sometimes other flavors/fruits. Smuckers is now banned in my house. I won't be purchasing anymore Smuckers Jellies, and won't try Smuckers Peanut Butter in the future even if on sale.
I'm going to let them know via email if they have contact info available, but I'm also going to start linking their name with the patent lawsuit action they started, to the news story, back to their page. Slashdot readers should do the same. A good Googlebomb will get their attention, so that when someone searches for Smuckers on Google (many less technical users use search engines to locate sites such as smuckers.com), some of the top ten hits will contain info on the patent lawsuit.
May not be a huge hit on their bottom line, but consumers swearing off their brand for years to come will get their attention. And more importantly, if the Googlebomb/linking is done sufficiently, then a news organization doing a story on patents may cover the issue or at least mention it, bringing more negative publicity to the company.
You have to show the companies that their are negative consequences to using frivolous patent, not just advantages. And you have to bring this to the attention to the general public. This is a perfect example of something the general public, something that soccer moms can understand. If they understand why patenting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are bad, then it may help them to understand why software patents are bad.
So for Smuckers Peanut Butter & Jelly patents, whether on "crimping" or on a different patent for crustless peanut butter & jelly, show the companies that you have a long memory and that they will be taking a financial hit no matter how small because you will no longer purchase their products due to their use of frivolous patents.
With the soccer moms able to grasp the situation with frivolous patents thanks to PB & J sandwiches they make for their kids' school lunches, maybe enough Senators and Congressmen will show a little vulnerability on this issue during the next election and decide to go after soccer moms' votes, along with the greater population of tech end users as compared to tech company suits.
The last thing directors of a public traded company want is publicity surrounding a boycott of their company. If you are serious about opposing software patents, this PB & J issue is a perfect opportunity to put your shopping and eating habits where your mouths are, and to attempt to make a difference. All it takes is the numbers of users who view slashdot, and a little publicity. Do it today. Avoid purchasing Smuckers products and let them know why. And then Googlebomb the links from the news on the patent lawsuits to the companies. frivolous patents
Oh good, name calling. Who's the 2 year old again?
But, getting to the point, it's more efficent. I could spend 2 hours washing and waxing my car, or 15 min at the local car wash (one of those nice Shell ones) while I grab some snacks (maybe a PBJ).
Tell me, oh authority of taste (licker of knives) and well of infinite knowledge (./ reader), what you find so redeeming about this 'crust'? It's the burnt part of the bread!
I am John Hurt.
So much for my BLT sandwich patent...
It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.
In Australia we call them Jaffle Irons or just Toasted Sandwich Makers (yeah, real technical term). I suggest using ham and cheese as the filling though some people like tomato on it too. My Dad likes adding basil but he always was weird...
Other good options include tinned spaghetti, mince and best of all, traditional italian bolognese.
OMG, Smuckers is patenting Porn & Blow Jobs!
Oh, was it PB&J? Never mind. I thought it was P&BJ. I thought the world of slashdot as we know it was coming to an abrupt end.
it's cooked, not burned. you're a psycho. and a dumbass. grow the fuck up.
As a European, I'm amazed that this kind of candy bread is actually spread, pre-manufactured, at schools!
It's not like we don't know the PB&J over here in Holland but come on, a school should primarily serve a nice fresh cheese sandwich or something else without so much sugar.
Slashdot posts about a legal threat in a town called Gaylord and there isn't yet a 5 Funny modded post yet?
Shame on you all, I expected better.
Oh good, name calling. Who's the 2 year old again?
It ain't name calling if it is the truth.
But, getting to the point, it's more efficent. I could spend 2 hours washing and waxing my car, or 15 min at the local car wash
If it takes you 2 hours to make a PB&J then you've got a major disability.
Tell me, oh authority of taste (licker of knives) and well of infinite knowledge (./ reader), what you find so redeeming about this 'crust'? It's the burnt part of the bread!
a) It is not burnt, if it were burnt it would be carbonized
b) It's kind of like peeling an apple. There's nothing particularly redeeming about it, just not worth the effort of avoiding - something a person so focused on efficiency would have figured out long ago.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Bah! Crustless bread is an evil scheme to get people to buy more bread, because it goes stale more quickly.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
"It ain't name calling if it is the truth."
/'b&rnd, 'b&rnt/; or burnt /'b&rnt/; burning
My point exactly. Go home, little girl.
Tell your mom I said hi.
"If it takes you 2 hours to make a PB&J then you've got a major disability."
If it takes you more than a minute to realize that was an analogy, you have a major disability. Didn't score high on that verbal section, did you?
"a) It is not burnt, if it were burnt it would be carbonized"
Main Entry: 2burn
Pronunciation: 'b&rn
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): burned
Etymology: Middle English birnen, from Old English byrnan, v.i., bærnan, v.t.; akin to Old High German brinnan to burn
intransitive senses
3 a : to undergo alteration or destruction by the action of fire or heat
Alteration by heat.
"b) It's kind of like peeling an apple. There's nothing particularly redeeming about it, just not worth the effort of avoiding - something a person so focused on efficiency would have figured out long ago."
Hmm, buy an apple at the store, take it home, wash it off, then eat it or just buy the thing pre-peeled and eat it on the spot. Hmm, wonder which way is more efficent.
I am John Hurt.
I have one of those "jaffle irons", which I inherited from my grand mother. She used to make toasted bread with it for most of her life, apparently...
Any other recipes will be gladly accepted...
How the fnck can you patent a fncking recipe? Why are they treating a recipe as an patentable invention? IT'S FOOD for fnck sake!!!
So you do something unique and it now becomes intellectual property?
*(God, I'm ready for Armageddon when ever you are)*
Authority questions you. Return the favor.
Actually, I've been making P&J sandwitches for ages, only I mostly replaced the P with butter. And sometimes I replaced the J with P, or even other stuff.
When I took those sandwiches to work that butter made sure that the J (or other stuff) stayed in the middle untill my noon break, when I ate them.
Would those sandwiches be considered "prior art", or would they, as they are "so similar", be falling under the P&J -patent too ?
I think that preserves are like jam, but even chunkier.
Preserves might not include pectin, but don't quote me on that.
OK, here are some "official" definitions:
- jam: A preserve made from whole fruit boiled to a pulp with sugar.
- jelly: A soft, semisolid food substance with a resilient consistency, made by the setting of a liquid containing pectin or gelatin or by the addition of gelatin to a liquid, especially such a substance made of fruit juice containing pectin boiled with sugar.
- marmalade: A clear, jellylike preserve made from the pulp and rind of fruits, especially citrus fruits.
- preserves: Fruit cooked with sugar to protect against decay or fermentation.
So my earlier definition was slightly off, in that jam is apparently cooked with sugar (although I've bought stuff labeled "jam" that had no sugar in it at all).Here are the relationships between the various substances, as I understand them:Or, in Python:I hope that this helps distinguish between the various types of delicious fruit-derived toppings for sandwiches, English muffins, etc.
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
when making a PBJ, the J seeps through the bread. To solve that problem, Smuckers put PB on BOTH pieces of bread.
:)
:)
Gee, when I was a kid, my mom taught me to put regular butter on the jam side for exactly that reason. If only we'd known it was such an "innovative" idea, I'd be the son of a millionaire right now!
Or maybe it's the use of peanut butter instead of regular butter that makes it quite so new and innovative and inobvious? Yeah, substituting peanut butter for butter on a PBJ - nobody would *ever* think of that!
Anyway, I just had myself a patent-violating sandwich to, er, celebrate.
The second "jelly" class definition (the one following the "jam" class definition) in each of the C++ and Python code sections in the parent post should instead be "marmalade".
I most humbly and fruitfully apologize (USA) / apologise (UK) for any confusion that this may have caused.
Also, I forgot to mention that the code is copyright 2005 by me, and is licensed under version 2 of the GPL (not that new controversial version 3).
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
Smuckers has now filed lawsuits against PB&J pirates. However a new PB&J making network "PeanutTorrent" has made it harder for Smuckers to track illegal sandwich makers.
That looks like "wheat grass" to me. Hope that helps.
That sounds like a mechanical/manual version of one of these. You've been able to buy things like that here in the UK for at least 20 years. Same idea - switch that on and it heats up, make a sandwhich, put it in, close the toaster and it cuts and crimps it while it cooks it. I recommend buttering the *outside* of the bread, it makes it brown nicely.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
toasted sandwich makers are very popular in britain and ireland, especially among students. They're usually called "Toastie Makers" and they produce "toasties".
Serta files for a patent on, "waking up in the morning"
...Life is like a bad analogy
> Alteration by heat.
Ha-ha! Gayest rebutal, ever!
Better throw out the entire loaf since the entire thing was "altered by heat" (also known as baking).
There is 200 or more ysars of prior art here, Every technique has been done, from PB on both slices, th crimping, to cutting the crust...If this can get a patent in the first place, well, maybe I should try to patent the process of taking a shit and sue EVERYONE, it makes as much sence.
I only started making PB&J sandwiches recently because my mom never made them when I was a kid. I put PB on both slices because it didn't occur to me to only put it on 1 slice. (I mean, something should go on the other slice, right?) Well, no cease-and-desist letters for me!
Let me go make my own..Ok..I'll start with 2 slices of healthy wheat bread. Add a serving of peanut butter and top it off with that special 0 mg jelly you found.
Bread - 128mg sodium per slice = 256 mg
2 Tbsp of peanut butter =150 mg
Total for my homemade version = 406 mg sodium
Whew, thank god a dodged that corporate bullet and made my own at home.
--- Liberty in our Lifetime
Sliced banana and choclate spread.
A friend once ruined a toasted sandwich maker trying to use Blackjacks; small chewy aniseed flavoured sweets. I have no idea what he was thinking.
I used to wonder why the makers were so stupid they never made them big enough for a slice of bread. Then I realized it was supposed to be pinching the edges closed.
Now I just wonder why the stupid makers always put stupid nooks and crannies everywhere where melted chese and grease runs such that it's difficult to clean without a wet paper towel and toothpick.
Hello, Tefal? HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!?!?
I sniff a marketting opportunity! The truly (not lying) e-z-clean sandwitch maker.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Sorry but the wheel is being patented by an Australian man. Link from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1418 165.stm
Now where is my Cloak of Invisibility
I will NOT BUY any of your products simply because you attempted to get this frivolous patent. Any food and or food making process should NEVER be patented. Food wants to remain open, you know, like software.
"I bow to no man" - Riddick
Why would anyone eat a sandwich with peanut butter and jam? Sounds like a terrible combination...
That likes like chives to me.
I can finally eat my pb&j sandwiches in peace!
" I'd like to get a nickle everytime your girlfriend gives you a blow job." If the stories are true, /. readers will not be making you very much money... Better try one of those ... 3. Profit model ideas.
[UID-HeinzIntel]
I'm sorry, I read that as Hash Brownies.
There should be a person hired as the first person one meets when entering a patent office. And this person's only job should be to occasionally say "shut the fuck up".
With all the kids that go into shock as a reaction to peanut butter, it would seem irresponsable to include it on the lunch menu. Its a problem and with our friendly lawyers today it would seem to open Smuckers to a massive lawsuite when a student expires from the reaction. (Uh...the school nurse is either fired due to the budget, or is forbidden to administer the antidote!) Besides who likes Peanut Butter anyway, cream cheese and strawberry is a better dish.......
the Patent Office said the "crimped edges are similar to a ravioli or pie crust"
Shouldn't the patent office instead be saying something like "rimped edges are similar to but legally distinct from a ravioli or pie crust".
But this news really dosen't make me any less hungrier.
If the veggie in question is called bieslook in Dutch (assuming Dutch, because of the .nl in the website, assuming bieslook because of the image name) according to a dictionary, those would be chives.
Until your mom turns around and sues your ass for stealing her intellectual property rights.
No because that's the reason they are rejecting it. The crimping is not legally distinct.
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
RE: "Smuckers put PB on BOTH pieces of bread. And patented that!"
This post was modded "Informative," but I assume you were joking. Their existing patent is for a "sealed, crustless sandwich"
From the WSJ article:
The Uncrustable sandwich was developed in 1995 in Fargo, N.D., by Len Kretchman and David Geske, two fathers who began mass-producing them for Midwestern schools. Smucker, based in Orrville, Ohio, spotted their success and bought the company. Patent rights on a "sealed, crustless sandwich" were granted shortly after that, in December 1999.
Actually, your mother's recipes for hash browns would be a trade secret, not a patent.
barzelay.net
I have no time for those who think life is too short to take the time to comment on someone commenting about a comment about who takes time to make some sort of crap.
Of course, I am now going to file a lawsuit against everyone in the country, because they all take dumps (though not necessarily in a toilet exactly like the one I described), and therefore, they must pay me royalties each time they do so.
what you find so redeeming about this 'crust'? It's the burnt part of the bread!
Well when you bake bread you really can't help but make it with a crust.
Now I happen to like crusts, but then I either bake my own bread or buy fancy artisnal bread fresh from a bakery. These breads typically have a nice chewy crust to them.
I agree that the crust on most mass-market breads especially your typical white bread like Wonder seems rather pointless. (then to my mind most mass market bread is rather pointless)
Happy Fun Ball is for external use only.
Oh yeah... the Christmas lights guy...
So how do we know those are REAL hash browns!? Maybe you pre-cooked them and then placed them on the grill for the photos...
Here's some bedtime reading for Alek.
Those are chives...
My wifes family makes a wrap where they take cream cheese, add some milk and whip it until it is creamy. Then you put a spoonful on a slice of lunch meat and wrap it around a chive, it's pretty good.
She calls them onion wraps.
Cheap storage VM.
Previously everyone was requiring multiple confirmations in order to purchase items online. Someone at amazon decided it would be easier to allow purchases with a single click.
People were initially taught to be very distrustful of giving out personal information to companies on the Internet. Eventually, people grew more used to the notion that companies would be retaining data about them. Amazon's method only works when people trust them with their identification: that's social change, not a patentable phenomenon.
Since no prior art was found of online shopping systems in which purchases were made with a single action (i.e. click) the patent was granted.
There are many shopping systems where purchases are made with a single action! You shouldn't just be able to add "on the Internet" to a patent claim, and have it magically granted.
For example, when I go to a bar, I point to my empty glass (one action), and I get another beer. The bartender identifies me, identifies my request (for beer), sends me what I wanted (the beer), and bills me. Amazon does the same thing, except I point with a mouse, there's a shipping delay because of the distance, and Amazon doesn't sell beer.
Just because the invention of one click shopping is not difficult to implement does not mean that it is not novel or non-obvious.
No, what makes it obvious is that it's a centuries old business practice. Since you admit that this centuries old business practice is "not difficult to implement": where is this sweeping innovation that is 20 years ahead of it's time? I don't see any here.
--
AC
It's people like you who think that way that ruin everything for everyone. If we started removing things that everyone had a reaction to, we would have to remove ALL food from school. For every type of food there is, we now have someone who will become deathly ill when they eat it. Grow up.
Whatever happened to natural selection anyways? Was it banned when I had my back turned?
FYI, when a person (like Mrs. Schiavo, or a child in a custody case) is unable to represent their own interests, the court appoints a neutral third party to act on their behalf, called a Guardian Ad Ligtem. It was not a case of the husband's attorney vs. the parents' attorney; it was a case of the husband's attorney AND the guardian ad ligtem against the parents.
As I said earlier, which you convieniently ignored, the Constitutional issue would be the same regardless of whether the parents' and husband's positions were inverted -- it is a guiding principle of our legal system the Executive and Legislative branches shall not muck with the decisions of the Judicial branch, period, end of story.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?