Online Rich Media Patented

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Thursday February 23, 2006 @12:56AM from the it's-mine-now dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Balthasar has been awarded a patent on "Methods, systems, and processes for the design and creation of rich-media applications via the internet" ( USPO 7,000,180). In an article at news.com the company claims that "The patent covers all rich-media technology implementations including Flash, Flex, Java, AJAX and XAML and all device footprints which access rich-media Internet applications including desktops, mobile devices, set-top boxes and video game consoles". The patent was filed on 9 February 2001, five years after the original Flash application, FutureWave Splash, was introduced in May 1996."

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Re:PTO by nattt · 2006-02-23 01:07 · Score: 4, Interesting

Also the patent office needs to be held accountable for it's mistakes, like, for instance, paying for anyone who has to fight a bogus patent. Maybe then they'd take due care?

What would be easiest would be to invalidate now, and forever, any software patents. That would get rid of most of the bad patents in one swoop.

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-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
Re:Important Clarification + Rant by Pofy · 2006-02-23 01:14 · Score: 3, Interesting

Not only prior art is a prooblem, a patent should also be on obvious for people in teh field. I am always amazed how it seems that by adding "on the internet" or "with a computer" tends to turn almost everything into something completely non obvious. Oh well.