USPTO Won't Accept Upside Down Faxes

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USPTO Won't Accept Upside Down Faxes

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 4, 2010 @01:41AM from the left-handed-reading-glasses dept.

bizwriter writes "This may seem like a joke, but it's not. The US Patent and Trademark Office will not accept patent filings faxed in if they arrive upside down. That's right, the home of innovation of the federal government is incapable of rotating an incoming fax file, whether electronically or on paper."

12 of 427 comments (clear)

My Personal War: by boneglorious · 2010-02-04 01:44 · Score: 5, Funny

I practice civil disobedience by sneaking into the patent office and quickly rotating the faxes upside down...

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Can I mod something +1 Scary if it's true but I wish it weren't?
candy? by MentlFlos · 2010-02-04 01:47 · Score: 5, Funny

When they buy a bag of M&Ms do they throw away all the W, E and 3s too?
1. Re:candy? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-02-04 02:18 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  When they buy a bag of M&Ms do they throw away all the W, E and 3s too?
  Why was that moded 'Funny'?
  The other day, I went to Home Depot and bought nails. I get home, open the box, and what do I see?! Over half - HALF- of the fucking nails have the points on the wrong end!
  Inconceivable!
2. Re:candy? by Obd1Kenobe · 2010-02-04 02:27 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I hope you didn't throw them away, those are for use on the other side of the boards
They Would Simply Rotate Them 180 Degrees ... by eldavojohn · 2010-02-04 01:48 · Score: 5, Funny

... but unfortunately they granted a patent on that in 1987 and don't have the money for the absurd licensing fee the patent holder is asking. Unfortunately the "novel" method patented covers both clockwise and counterclockwise but they're currently looking into rotating them 179 degrees, making the document slightly slanted but avoiding royalties.

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My work here is dung.
1. Re:They Would Simply Rotate Them 180 Degrees ... by dougisfunny · 2010-02-04 03:03 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  They would, except someone faxed them the memo informing them of that, and it was upside down.
  
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  This is not the funny you're looking for.
Re:Idea by acoustix · 2010-02-04 01:49 · Score: 5, Funny

Just send every single tax filing both ways. The right one gets filed, and wrong one gets rejected. Twice the work for the government.
I'm not sure why you would want to send your tax papers to the US Patent Office.

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"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
Re:Idea by StripedCow · 2010-02-04 01:50 · Score: 5, Funny

And then finally they'll get the bright idea to implement software that recognizes whether it's upside down and only print out the ones that are right-side up!
They can't implement that software because a method for doing that has already been patented!

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If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
A possible explanation: by Mashdar · 2010-02-04 01:50 · Score: 5, Insightful

My guess is that they don't print them any more, and it was a PITA to turn your entire monitor upside down!
Re:Call the whambulance! by L4t3r4lu5 · 2010-02-04 02:05 · Score: 5, Insightful

When your tax money is being used to pay for the phone call / ISP fees / time of the staff involved in informing the sender of the issue instead of rotating a piece of paper 180 degrees in their hand, yes.

Yes I do.

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Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Re:Idea by bobdotorg · 2010-02-04 02:13 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm not sure why you would want to send your tax papers to the US Patent Office.
Because some of my deductions are patently, umm, creative.

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__ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
Re:professionals by maxume · 2010-02-04 02:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

This isn't the patent office insisting on professionalism, it is the patent office insisting on bureaucratic nonsense.

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Nerd rage is the funniest rage.