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Amazon Patents Including a String at End of a URL
theodp writes "On Tuesday, Amazon search subsidiary A9.com was awarded U.S. patent no. 7,287,042 for 'including a search string at the end of a URL without any special formatting.' In the Summary of the Invention, it's explained that 'a user wishing to search for 'San Francisco Hotels' may do by simply accessing the URL www.domain_name/San Francisco Hotels, where domain_name is a domain name associated with the web site system.' Here's the flowchart that helped cinch the deal."
I have patented putting characters in an ordered sequence. I'm calling it a SENT-ENCE. I'd ask for your thoughts on it, but I will of course need royalties.
TODO - Insert Creative/Witty Signature
I'm patenting a method where you click on a link and yo return a '404' for the first five minutes the link is avaialable. You leave some kind of message indicating you should try again, thereby increasing page views and advertizing rates.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Well, Wikipedia didn't find anything at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Including_a_search_string_at_the_end_of_a_URL_without_any_special_formatting so I guess it must be a novel idea. Oh, wait ...
If anything was ever evidence of a totally, completely, utterly broken patent system, this is it.
.com that relies on... TCP/IP... Yeah! That's the ticket! That's how it happened. I was there...*
How in the world was this ever even submitted?!
There's SOO much prior art out there on this one, it's utterly laughable.
Oooohh.... I've got an idea: I'll patent anything that starts with http: and ends with
* with apologies to Jon Lovett
Running 'Nix is like owning a Lightsaber. It's "a more elegant weapon for a more civilized time."
get with the program - use a monospace font
How in the world was this ever even submitted?!
I think the flowchart makes that obvious.
During the course of the business day, most people will jot down notes about various things discussed during meetings or at informal cubicle conversations or whatever. Usually, these notes are kept for some period of time until they become no longer relevant, at which time they're either thrown out or shredded.
At my office, we throw such notes into little blue bins under our desks. The contents of these bins are then taken by a company who shreds them. In Amazon's case, the contents of the blue bins are apparently sent to the patent office.
So there you have it.
Then I guess if I worked for Amazon they'd be submitting a patent application for "An old newpaper with mustard and grease stains." They'd probably get it too.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Flowcharts can be very useful and convincing.
Don't click that URL, it violates a patent!!!
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
No, he can't apply for a position with the USPTO, as I have a patent on The Method By Which Individuals Who Are Legal Entities May Apply For Jobs In US Government Organizations Which Are Not Based On Elections.
Obviously, I have not licensed him the procedure to apply for the job, so he can not apply without the threat of being sued. Quite naturally, I would only sue if he got hired, and then it would only be to get his job.
2^3 * 31 * 647
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,287,042.PN.&OS=PN/7,287,042&RS=PN/7,287,042
That's quite a URL. If only they'd licensed a search string at the end of a URL without any special formatting.
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