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Microsoft Applies For Patent On Private Browsing

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the mine-mine-mine dept.

PhilDEE writes "Microsoft is in the process of applying for two patents for a private browsing mode in their next version of Internet Explorer — a feature already present in Safari, among other browsers."

3 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Trademarks, not patents! by LO0G · · Score: 5, Informative

    They aren't patent applications, they're trademark applications. Check the source

    BIG difference.

    Patents==Bad and subject to prior art.
    Trademarks==Good, and not subject to prior art.

    1. Re:Trademarks, not patents! by Tenrosei · · Score: 5, Informative

      HUADPE thank you! People are idiots even if you trademark a word like yellow to a new watch. Your trademark is limited to the product you are calling yellow so someone else can still have a yellow trademark on a new type of telephone, or trademark yellow as a new type of hat.Also, "If a court rules that a trademark has become "generic" through common use (such that the mark no longer performs the essential trademark function and the average consumer no longer considers that exclusive rights attach to it), the corresponding registration may also be ruled invalid." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark

  2. Summary and Article WRONG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is all wrong. Microsoft did not apply for patents, they applied for trademarks for the names they're giving the features, namely "ClearTracks" and "InPrivate". Unless you can find existing use for those names in privacy software you're not likely to find any objections to the trademark applications. Trademarks are not a claim of invention and in no way prevent others from implementing the exact same ideas or algorithms. They're simply a claim to a name in a specific context.

    Even the original blogger got it right:

    http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080820/microsoft-hints-private-browsing-feature-ie/

    I don't expect Slashdot to actually fix the summary, though. The word "patent" will generate a lot traffic, whereas everyone will simply yawn over "trademark".