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Google Patents Displaying Patents

Posted by timothy on from the on-the-internet dept.

theodp writes "Google has actually managed to patent displaying patents. The USPTO issued US Patent No. D603,866 to six Google inventors for their 'graphical user interface for display screen of a communications terminal.' Among the six inventors is the guy who introduced Google Patents. Ironically, Google Patents can't seem to find the new Google patent for Google Patents."

7 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. No, they didn't by Halo1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They got a design patent. That's something complete different from a regular patent.

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  2. Design Patent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's a design patent. Please learn how the patent system works before posting patent stories.

    1. Re:Design Patent by sopssa · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You must be new here. Every patent story on Slashdot is like this, and in every case theres tons of people jumping in who can't seem to understand the abstract is just that.. an abstract. You need to read the actual claims and description to see what is being patented.

      But lets not get into way of some good sensationalism journalism.

  3. Re:Uh... by sopssa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think Google is here who is to blame. We see these kinds of news everyday by Microsoft etc too. It's just how the (broken) US patent system works and companies have to cope with that too.

    Ironically, Google Patents can't seem to find the new Google patent for Google Patents.

    To be fair, there's no translation of the papers online everywhere else either.

    Also;

    The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but reserves all other copyrights whatsoever.

    So like with many other computer patents, they just seem to be covering their own asses against patent trolls. Blame the system, not those who need to work with it.

  4. Re:Uh... by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    The summary's misleading. It isn't the displaying of patents that Google patented, it is the particular Web GUI that they patented. Which is, mind you, fairly unique in that it displays the original images quickly and uses particularly unique layout for the display of the very intuitive controls.

    Not that I agree with software patents, I think they're stupid, but under current patent laws, what they patented seems to meet the standard for what is patentable.

    (IANAL, TINLA, bleh.)

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  5. Re:Google's strange stance by houstonbofh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just makes me think of an old Danny D'vito quote from Other Peoples Money.
    "Of course I've got lawyers. They are like nuclear weapons: I've got em coz everyone else has. But as soon as you use them they screw everything up."

  6. Oblig... by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

    "It's a coffee table book... about coffee tables!!!"

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