Netflix Suing Blockbuster for Patent Infringement

grouchomarxist writes "Netflix is suing Blockbuster for Patent Infringement. From the article: 'Netflix holds two U.S. patents for its business methodology, which calls for subscribers to pay a monthly fee to select and rent DVDs from the company's Web site and to maintain a list of titles telling Netflix in which order to ship the films, according to the patents, which were included as exhibits in the lawsuit. The first patent, granted in 2003, covers the method by which Netflix customers select and receive a certain number of movies at a time, and return them for more titles. The second patent, issued on Tuesday, "covers a method for subscription-based online rental that allows subscribers to keep the DVDs they rent for as long as they wish without incurring any late fees, to obtain new DVDs without incurring additional charges and to prioritize and reprioritize their own personal dynamic queue -- of DVDs to be rented," the lawsuit said.'"

Comments

Patents on business methods are stupid.

[tpgp]

TFA:

"Blockbuster has been willfully and deliberately copying Netflix's business methods," Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said.

So what if they're copying your business methods - thats called competition.

Re:Patents on business methods are stupid.

[Mecdemort]

It has long been said that: Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

In the past copying products in a different form was alowd. You couldn't patten chicken noodle soup, but you could pattent a specific formula. This form of patenting ideas is going to strangle us as a civilization, and lead to a few companies that control everything.

Just wait until someone patents a pure idea, and if anyone gets caught thinking about it you have to pay them.

Utter, utter BS

[stunt_penguin]

OK so what if I go out and patent queueing at a shop checkout to pay for goods, or paying for magazines to be delivered to your home on a monthly basis, or, or........

This shit has to stop, I mean netflix are just being totally petty about the whole damn thing. I mean, what *other* way is there to organise online DVD rental? Are they going to enforce patents on their *whole* business model.

This has to stop. Gah!

Library patents

[doddi]

The first patent, granted in 2003, covers the method by which Netflix customers select and receive a certain number of movies at a time, and return them for more titles.

Isn't this exactly how libraries have worked since ...um, long before 2003?

Re:Aside from patentability

[Pofy]

>Aside from whether or not business methods should be patentable... since
>they were granted the patent, it's pretty obvious that they had come up with
>a novel process which was straight-up copied.

Please tell what part of it that is novel and non obvious (to people in THAT area)? In addition, it should be something that no one has done before 2003 (or even later since that was the first patent).

While patenting

[the_Bionic_lemming]

Did they also include a patent for slowing shipping down because you rent too many movies from them?

After all, Unlimited isn't really unlimited with netflix.

I'm leaving netflix To go to blockbuster - I guess people like me defecting is what really prompted the lawsuit. Instead of living up to the "Unlimited Rentals" they are going to sue everyone else out of existance.