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USPTO Issues Provisional Storyline Patent

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the thought-of-that-first dept.

cheesedog writes "The USPTO will issue the first storyline patent in history today, with two others following in the next few months. Right to Create points out that this was anticipated several months ago in a story by Richard Stallman published in the The Guardian, UK. With the publication of this not-yet-granted patent, its author can begin requiring licensing fees for anyone whose activities might fall within its claims, including book authors, movie studies, television studios and broadcasters, etc. The claims appear to cover the literary elements of a story involving an ambitious high school student who applies for entrance to MIT and prays to remain sleeping until the acceptance letter comes, which doesn't happen for another 30 years."

6 of 453 comments (clear)

  1. Publish, not issue by Aneurysm9 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Get it right. Even the article does. These are patent applications that are being published because of a recent statutory change requiring publication of all patent applications 18 months after filing. This has nothing to do with whether or not letters patent will be granted.

    --
    There was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a bus to never-ever land.
  2. They haven't issued anything by imthesponge · · Score: 5, Informative
    U.S. Patent Office Publishes the First Patent Application to Claim a Fictional Storyline; Inventor Asserts Provisional Rights Against Hollywood

    ...

    Will Knights claimed storyline pass the rigors of nonobviousness and issue as a U.S. Patent? ...

  3. Reductio ad Absurdum by ewhac · · Score: 4, Informative
    ...And here are the assholes who have been doing the legal legwork to make this possible. Here is their argument in law, which draws heavily on the flawed, idiotic precedents established with software patents.

    The system is now officially broken, and anyone who takes the USPTO seriously after today is part of the problem.

    Schwab

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    Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
  4. Patent Office is philosophically broke by Dark+Coder · · Score: 3, Informative
    Check out the most frivolous and most obvious patents, such as

    1. 'how to swing on a swing set',
    2. Stamp moistener (with your tongue!!!),
    3. Towel with a neck loop,
    4. Light bulb changer, weighing over 100 lbs.,
    5. 6 duplicative patents on 'cat toys on a string attached to a stick'1,2,3,4,5,6,


    Many of the not so credible patents have inate and self-evident common senses that have been documented by Greek/Roman historians in B.C. times!

    This is not what us commoner had envision for our ideal patent system. Oh boy, Adam Smith must be hotly spinning in his grave!

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    Disclaimer - I, too, am a pending patent holder.
  5. Re:Copy by craXORjack · · Score: 5, Informative
    So if I were to photocopy a page out of a textbook and give it to students would I be a) infringing the patent b) violating copyright c) both?

    A textbook wouldn't have a storyline so the answer could not be (a) or (c). However, whether you are violating (b) depends on whether the page you photocopied was from a textbook printed on paper or an electronic book which displays text encoded digitally. In the first case, the old and established Fair Use Act covers this and no violation has occured. In the second case, the DMCA comes into play and you would be subject to penalties on par with those for second degree murder.

    --
    Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
  6. New ways to protect mediocrity... by psiber · · Score: 3, Informative

    WTF? The "About Us" section of Knight's website states:

    "Recognizing that fierce competition for publication and financial reward focused on the quality of storytelling, as opposed to the quality of the underlying storyline itself, and further recognizing that even the world's most skilled storytellers (of which he is clearly not) rarely turn a profit, his unique fictional storylines have matured into pending patent applications instead of novels or screenplays. He thus seeks reward on the true value of his innovations--the underlying storylines--instead of forced, sub-par expressions of these underlying storylines." (http://www.plotpatents.com/about_us.htm)

    Basically, he wants to get paid for coming up with a story idea and not the work of turning the idea into an actual GOOD story because he is not a skilled storyteller. Here's an idea for you: (1 come up with a good story idea (2 find a skilled storyteller and (3 contract them to write the story (with both names appearing on the work maybe? or not in which case this is just hiring a ghost writer). Oh yeah, he'd have to actually DO THE WORK of looking for a skilled storyteller he is able to work with. How about this one then: (1 come up with a good story idea (2 write a BAD story (3 what for someone to copy it and (4 sue them under copyright law. Oh yeah, the duplicate story would have to be VERY similar to the original to be considered for copyright infringement and would most likely be just as bad as the original and not sell either, so he still would not get paid. I can see why so many foreigners see us Americans as lazy...

    Besides, the idea behind the patent system is you can patent your idea, PRODUCE your idea (which Knight apparently IS NOT GOING TO DO with his story ideas), and try to make money from it without having to worry about a bigger competitor copying your idea and profiting from your creativity... Oh yeah, the patent system is still broken... never mind...