Linked List Patented in 2006

An anonymous reader writes "Congratulations are in order to Ming-Jen Wang of LSI Logic Corporation who, in patent #10260471 managed to invent the linked list. From the abstract, "A computerized list is provided with auxiliary pointers for traversing the list in different sequences. One or more auxiliary pointers enable a fast, sequential traversal of the list with a minimum of computational time. Such lists may be used in any application where lists may be reordered for various purposes." Good-bye doubly linked list. We should also give praise to the extensive patent review performed by Cochran Freund & Young LLP."

Comments

Prior Art?

[tedgyz]

I would show the prior art, but I can't read the reel-to-reel tapes.

Re:Prior Art?

[Tsagadai]

Screw that I'm filing a patent on lodging patents. I'll make millions as gullible companies try to protect their "original" ideas. This guy will be required to pay me a fee for filing that patent.

Re:Prior Art?

[lanc]

We should also give praise to the extensive patent review performed by Cochran Freund & Young LLP.

Zefram, Zefram... have you been drinking again?

Re:Prior Art?

[Bitsy Boffin]

Punch cards? Luxury! In my day we had to carry around bundles of hookup wire...

Re:Prior Art?

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

I think you misunderstood. To make the links, you take about 5-6 inches of reel-to-reel tape, wrap it around to form a loop, and then seal it with a bit of sticky tape. Then you take the next piece of reel-to-reel, and loop it through the first before sealing it, thus forming the link. The prior art the GPP mentioned is found in every school for five-year-olds in the country, around 15 December every year, and has been since long before your new-fangled punch cards were invented! :-)

Re:Prior Art?

[Gerzel]

Pshaw.

Youngsters.

In my day we had to make cast the bronze ourselves and then file out every little gear tooth by hand just to make a machine that would run one non-reprogramable calculation. And we were happy for it!

Re:Prior Art?

[GreyPoopon]

You know, bronze is a lot easier to work with than stone. You obviously had it much easier in your day than I did in mine. I'd like to chat more, but my childhood friend Methuselah is at the door. I haven't seen him in at least a few thousand years, and it would be a pity to miss him.

Re:Prior Art?

[Alsee]

Bah! Back in the day Adam and I had to ride dinosaurs back and forth between numbered trees.

-

Re:Prior Art?

[Skreems]

would that make it a "Touring Machine"?

Re:Prior Art?

[Tsagadai]

I'm sorry I was new here it won't happen again. I won't publish a joke that was many decades old I promise, sir. No one on slashdot would ever make a stupid mistake like that twice.

wow.

[thhamm]

what a genius. he deserves millions over millions for that. and chicks for free.

Doesn't patent insertion and deletion

[sco08y]

I read the claims... somebody submit a patent for insertion and deletion operations.

Re:Doesn't patent insertion and deletion

[LaTechTech]

I could make millions off of the Pr0n industry for a patent for insertion!

1 : something that is inserted : as a : the part of a muscle that inserts b : the mode or place of attachment of an organ or part c : embroidery or needlework inserted as ornament between two pieces of fabric d : a section of genetic material that is inserted into an existing gene sequence
2 a : the act or process of inserting b : the mutational process producing a genetic insertion

Re:oh dear

[simm1701]

thats not a reference, thats a pointer!!

*smack*

Go back to Algorithms and Data Structures, Do not pass go, Do no increment the Counter by 200 ;)

Well allright then!

[LordPhantom]

What am I doing this morning? Why, furiously working on my patent on all types of sort! First year Computer Science students will BOW to my will (assuming they want to pass that radix sort assignment!)! Muwhahahaha!

Oh yeah

[eeyore]

I read about this technique about 23 years ago. What is going on here? This looks like material for a slashdot poll, viz:-

Why do you think that the latest LSI is bogus?

• (o) It isn't. Free enterprise musn't be regulated by stupid rules, such as "prior art"
• (o) I read about this in Knuth
• (o) I slept through a college lecture about this.
• (o) You woke me up, you insensitive clod!
• (o) It is an attempt to boost LSI's share price
• (o) It is a pathetic attempt to dis' LSI!
• (o) Cowboy Neal has prior art

What about it, guys?

--
E.

Re:This is a good thing?

[dreamchaser]

You're absolutely right. Patenting an algorithm like this would be like me patenting, "A method of transportation involving the repeated placement of one foot in front of the other, thereby conveying motion upon the transportee."

Aww Shoot...

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

I've got so much code modifying to do.

Re:oh dear

[Fordiman]

You've still got it wrong. It's an abstracted class.

You cannot dereference the pointer; that's impossible. You must first realize that there is no pointer, and that you're only dereferencing yourself.

I wish they had waited ....

[OldHawk777]

Another perfectly good /. 2007/04/01 post wasted.

If Hemos had waited there would have been some real funny comments from all US and EU.
If Ming-Jen Wang and LSI Logic Corporation had waited to file, then the date would
have clued US and EU all in on the tasteless joke of the few, on the many of US and EU.

DAMN, Hemos "PLEASE" next time save it for April 1,
because IPR/PO are so dang dumb-funny, we could all
be brought to tears and have a good cynical laugh.

Re:Previous Slashdot discussion of this patent

[Bastard of Subhumani]

It's obvious what's new: the original story wan't doubly linked until the new one came out.

Re:This is a good thing?

[mingot]

It's posts like this which make me glad you don't live in the USA!

The site displaying the patent ...

[Stooshie]

The site displaying the patent must use linked lists somewhere in the code. The menu at the top says "Browse by Inventor", "Browse by Date" etc...

Presumably the patent site existed before the patent was submitted.

Re:This is a good thing?

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

It's news like this which makes me glad I don't live in the USA!

The next time you're in the USA, dude, pay up.....

I own the patent: Process and/or Method of NOT Living in the United States

Re:This is a good thing?

[Angostura]

No, because in this case the patent system is a self-inflicted wound, not something imposed by an outside aggressor.

make cast?

[norminator]

In my day we had to make cast the bronze ourselves

make cast? I've done make, make install, make clean, make menuconfig, make xconfig, make modules make modules install, but I've never done make cast...

But obviously I've never compiled anything with a linked list in it anyhow, since this dude just barely invented them.

The Patent Examiner

[Greyfox]

Should be forced to eat a printout of every example of prior art ever published, including the 70s era data structures book I still have on my bookshelf which details the structure in assembly language and the Java, C++ and Linux kernel code bases. Then for dessert he should be forced to eat a printout of the patent. I'd say the applicant should too but he was probably just being sarcastic.

My regime would require this for patents that are blatantly obvious or have as much published prior art as linked lists do. You can be there'd be a lot fewer frivolous patents issued if the examiner and the applicant were forced to eat the printouts if the patent turned out to be retarded.

My new patent...

[E 99]

I'm filing an applicaiton for "Process and method for posting an article on an a patent when it is issued, then posting the substantially same article a year later, and calling it news both times." Your ass is mine, /.

Re:oh dear

[Alioth]

Reminds me of...

C: You shoot yourself in the foot.

C++: You accidently create a dozen instances of yourself and shoot them all in the foot. Providing emergency medical assistance is impossible since you can't tell which are bitwise copies and which are just pointing at others and saying "That's me, over there."