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IBM Patents Changing Color of E-Mail Text
theodp writes "Last week, the USPTO granted IBM a patent for its 'System and method for comprehensive automatic color customization in an email message based on cultural perspective.' So what exactly did the four Big Blue inventors come up with? IBM explains: 'For example, an email created in the US in red font to indicate urgency or emphasis might be mapped to a more appropriate color (e.g., blue or black) for sending to Korea.' IBM took advantage of the USPTO's Accelerated Examination Program to fast-track the patent's approval. BTW, if you missed the 2006 press release, IBM boasted it was 'holding itself to a higher standard than any law requires because it's urgent that patent quality is improved.'"
Thanks to slashdot for highlighting one of the many great ideas that Big Blue has brought to our meager existences. It's things like color fonts in email that really put a smile on my face every day. I'm glad slashdot posts stories like this to remind us of who's behind some of the great ideas we use every day.
To celebrate this remarkable achievement I am going to send all my emails today using a Big Blue font.
. . . except that nobody will be able to read this post anyways, as that IBM thingie will present this text as "white on white."
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Can't we just tag the text with some kind of semantic markup, and then use some kind of "sheet of styles" that relate the markup to the appearance? Sound familiar?
IMO this isn't such an bad way to do it. Might even be patent worthly as noone is doing it.
I myself really dislike stupid red fonts in emails or whatever *urgent* messages. I understand it by words anyways and it just makes me feel offended. But if its just cultural differences, then good job IBM.
how do they came up with ideas like that? I'd love to sit on those meetings..
Um, isn't the same idea as HTML phasing out i tags in favor of em tags, etc, which has been happening for years?
But who would see colour anyway? Is this another Windows thing?
Sounds interesting. A lot of Slashdot postings regarding patents attract comments about how it has already been done or is obvious. Just to keep things in perspective, here is the (only) claim from the patent:
For something to anticipate this invention, it must include all the elements and limitations of the claimed invention. For obviousness, you do not have to find every element in a single piece of prior art, or necessarily even in a number of pieces of prior art. The differences should be small enough that you would someone familiar with the prior art would independently come up with the same invention (not the precise legal definition of obviousness, but the general gist of it).
This seems like a perfectly reasonable, new idea. It's not "changing color of email text"... it's automatically understanding the meaning of the colors and adjusting them appropriately for each recipient.
Why is it that so many people on Slashdot seem to think that all patents are bad?
That's the stupidest thing I heard since Bush was president.
As an ex IBM'er this is pretty typical - IBM blankets technology with patents and many of them are not too terribly good or valid. Others are truly emerging things worthy of patent.
Several of my patents while working for them I said "well this really isn't a new thing" but they had me file anyway. Go figure.
www.effectiveelectrons.com "chips that work" Analog, RF, Mixed Signal
hmmm, aren't those fat multi-color pens and multi-color typewriter ribbon evidence of prior art?
/fat freddy sez
hope they don't find out about using carbon paper (CC = carbon copy) to transfer a copy of the letter you're typing onto another document or i'll have to pay insane royalties each time i forward those dumb internet chain letters i send to over 9000 of my friends!!
I know when I'm emailing my Korean friends, I always switch from the default black to black when I really want get their attention.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
For the detection of differences in things.
I am pretty sure that trumps their patent.
Royalties!!!
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
I invented a new way to fold the toilet paper that let the user's hands without any traces of shit. Should I patent something too ?
Full of sh*t.
BTW, the Petition To Make Special that IBM exploited to expedite the color-my-world patent's approval is also used to speed up patent apps for inventions that improve the quality of the environment, contribute to the development or conservation of energy resources, contribute to countering terrorism, or relate to recombinant DNA, superconductivity, HIV/AIDS, or cancer.
Because most of them would take most competent software engineers about 5 minutes to think up themselves if presented with the problem that the patent claims to be a solution to.
The programmatic solution is often obvious from a routine logical analysis of the problem and its domain, and standard modelling techniques.
The examiners seem not to be able to have a proper idea of non-obviousness (to a practitioner in the field), when it comes to software patents.
This causes areas of software work to be unreasonably closed off to any reasonable creative developer, and that's just a pain in the ass. So we basically say, look, if I could have thought of that without breaking a sweat just by using the standard analysis and coding techniques of the trade, then I'm pretty much going to ignore the "patent" on it, aren't I.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
You have to be kidding....right?
Seriously, I'm color blind. I'm rather oblivious to the meaning of different colors in different cultures to begin with. One thought I had, if I ever make a Faux pas with another culture based on mis-interpretation of what a color means, can I now blame it all on software? :)
So, IBM has patented something as trivial as checking the domain name of the recipient and then using str_replace() to change text colors. Does this mean forums that use a combination of regex+str_replace() to change text colors now violate an IBM patent? That's ridiculous.
Rawr!
IBM, otherwise known as "Big Blue", has filed a for a patent on 'Corporate logo's that include blue and white striped words that spell out I-B-M'.
Because most of them would take most competent software engineers about 5 minutes to think up themselves if presented with the problem that the patent claims to be a solution to.
Sometimes, though, figuring out what the problem is, or even that there is a problem in the first place, is decidedly non-trivial.
I'm not nearly as anti-patent as most people around here are, and this patent is borderline at best IMO, but I do think it falls into this category.
The key part of this is "if presented with the problem that the patent claims to be a solution to." Often, understanding the problem is 90% (made-up number) of the battle. Why is software often such a mess? Because no one knows at the beginning exactly what problems the software needs to solve. While creating a solution for vague problems, the real problems start to come into focus; the direction of the software changes.
Simply stating the problem clearly, and being the first to disclose a solution, does not guarantee a strong patent monopoly. Most problems have multiple solutions. Already, some non-infringing alternatives to this patent have been discussed in this forum. It is difficult to claim all solutions to a problem, thus the negative impact of software patents is often overstated.
I don't think we should be allowing patents based on the novelty of the problem rather than the novelty of the invention to solve it.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
#include lets_patent_patents.h
The novelty of the problem IS part of the novelty of the solution though.
Why not? Many, many inventions solve problems people didn't realize they had and change the world. In fact, the best inventions often do.
People who've never had a hot shower don't know what they're missing. People who rode horses everywhere didn't see the need for cars. People who like to shop didn't see the problem being solved by the internet.
You don't invent things just to be novel, you invent things to solve problems. The implementation does not need to be complex, the invention merely has to be novel. As far as I know, no one has done this before and it wasn't really obvious. People have been writing e-mail clients and servers for decades without thinking to do this, so I think this patent is a poor example of "bad" software patents. They really are doing something new here.
The examiners seem not to be able to have a proper idea of non-obviousness (to a practitioner in the field), when it comes to software patents.
So, are you a practitioner in the field of patent law with a proper idea of the legal requirements of 35 U.S.C. 103, or are you a practitioner in the field of software programming, with a proper idea of "obvious", as defined by Webster's or the OED?
My guess is it's the latter rather than the former, and you're criticizing the patent examiners of - oh, gosh - following the law.
So they got a patent for what is essentially a series of "IF / THEN" statements? WTF!
Why we think all or almost all s/w patents are bad: Because most of them would take most competent software engineers about 5 minutes to think up themselves if presented with the problem that the patent claims to be a solution to.
Agreed. It seems that the patents are being granted to people for thinking of problems rather than for thinking of solutions.
I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
What good is a solution for which there is no problem?
But its also preventing the problem, imagined or not, from being solved. I believe that if software patents are allowed (and I believe that they shouldn't be allowed, but for arguments sake lets say they are allowed) then the patented idea needs to be in software produced by the company within 3 months of the patent being filed. If not then the patent is automatically voided.
How many of you think this will actually be used? It won't be, it however, does prevent me from making a program to solve this "problem".
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
The main problem is that is you do not patent something, then there is a chance that some small company does and starts a trial against you in the known Texas courts. At the end, I do not know what is worst.
Differences like "Being Blue" in English means being sad, but "Being Blue" in German means being drunk?
Does that mean the "Big Blue" is now sad AND drunk?
Or does it mean that IBM is now known as the "Big Mauve" in some countries?
Last I've heard, pink is a lucky colour in China.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
and thus unpatentable.
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
Slashdot is the only site I know that fails hard at UTF-8.
This is intentional. Slashdot is in English, and English requires no characters outside Latin-1 plus the € character. Slashdot used to allow more characters, but that was turned off on purpose due to abuse.
Isn't Harry Potter evidence of prior art?
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
Hmm.. so that's why Kim Jong-il doesn't respond to our urgent messages.
Does this mean we can expect IBM to start suing anyone who uses HTML-formatted e-mail? Because I think that would probably be a good thing.
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
I don't think we should be allowing patents based on the novelty of the problem rather than the novelty of the invention to solve it.
You missed the GP's point. Sometimes, noticing the problem is the hard part.
I think I am going to patent the reaction others give after you sneeze...like, "Gazundteit" or "Bless You". I'll make a mint.
I'm going to license IBM's technology and then expand it for use with color blind users and people who only receive plain text e-mail.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Perhaps he is blaming the law.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=kumqAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=proximity+business+transfer&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0_0#PPA1,M1
But I had an idea for email that changes color based on what's going on with the Homeland Security Advisory System:
It would just be embedded in the footer- think like a Hello Kitty kind of thing, where she gets upset and stomps her foot around whenever there's a significant possibility that thousands of people might die in a terrorist attack.
So now I'll go back to working on my process patent for "improving software developer productivity through the application of mild organic stimulants in a solution of elevated temperature". Coffee anyone?
increasing the size of your "IP portfolio"
This story makes me feel blue.
This is the root cause, and is the case I suspect in many corporations.
At IBM, you get something like $500 USD for a filed patent, something like that again if it's accepted, plus internal "points" which give you additional bonuses after a certain number of patents have been reached.
In addition, promotions to higher levels are significantly helped by displaying a large number of patents.
Finally, I wouldn't be surprised if the lawyers that decide whether to file or not a given patent proposal also get more bucks based on the count of how many gets pushed out.
From there, it's only logical that whatever the execs say or claim, underneath, everybody's going to file as much crap as possible.
Include with each IBM software DVD... (yeah I hear ya about the bloat) some killer ganja (no problem so far) laced with rocket fuel and elephant tranq (whoop whoop problem), and tell the user to take a hit and hold it for 15 seconds, before thrashing the pop3 server.
Alternatively, if IBM wanted the user to save money, the user could huff paint, (MEK)methyl ethyl keytone, or whipped cream while smoking parsley and sativa.
I've also noticed if you get punched hard enough, you can see colors for awhile, perhaps we can let the CIA work some ass over a bit. Or rig an iron pan to distribute a whack on the side of the head?
My VT100 monitor automatically turns my email, and everything else for that matter, a cool shade of amber.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
IBM re-invented CSS.
This is exactly the thing CSS was created for; visual mark-up based on semantics.
A few tags around the urgent bits and your own little localized CSS should do the trick.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
They should've patented a system to translate emails from British to English and vice-versa, so that words like "color" get spelled with extra "u"s on British systems and without them on normal systems.
Would've been a much better patent.
That's fine until someone sends an email that says something to the effect of:
"My changes below in blue..."
And then proceeds to mark up an email, in blue, which is changed to some localized color other than blue.
More interesting would be if it localized gestures and actions. For example, if I say:
*throws you the middle finger* .. and it's read by someone in another culture, it should translate it to the appropriate gesture for their culture (such as *touches index finger to thumb*).
-David
becomes patentable ?
That abuse post is kind of clever
The subject was
1.2.3 ‮(lufthgisnI ,5:erocS)
U+8238 is combining cyrillic millions, it flips the text direction from that point on the line on.
Now when posted it was modded Offtopic, but what you see is
1.2.3 (cipotffO, 1-:erocS) (Score:5, Insightful)
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Comment removed based on user account deletion
the patented idea needs to be in software produced by the company within 3 months of the patent being filed. If not then the patent is automatically voided.
Sounds nice, But this just consolidates the position of patents as a tool of large corporations to squash competition.
A big company can do this. A little guy typically gets an idea, plays with it a bit, files the patent and then has some protection while he looks for finance/support to launch it.
BTW I work in the hardware side, I don't think patents are any less broken there, I've come across a couple of situations recently in my area of work where patents have been granted to a large American company describing ideas that in one case was commercially available years before the filing date, and in another was previously shown to said company by a much smaller one . No they probably wouldn't stand up in court, but the existence of such a patent can totally screw up a business plan, and its pretty much impossible to challenge these things without significant resources.
Sounds nice, But this just consolidates the position of patents as a tool of large corporations to squash competition. A big company can do this. A little guy typically gets an idea, plays with it a bit, files the patent and then has some protection while he looks for finance/support to launch it.
But considering that most software patents never progress pass the idea stage, his would provide the small company or individual an easy way of bypassing pointless patents that won't be used.
Software development doesn't cost much, and if you have the idea and want to use it you can easily write some code, release a small freeware program on the internet and get the patent.
If the large companies got there first, you still have the freeware program to use for that purpose.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Is called HTML email & Javascript.
XML - A clever joke would be here if