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USPTO Gives Google Patent For Doodles
theodp writes "After a 10-year struggle, the USPTO was convinced to issue Google a patent Tuesday for Systems and Methods for Enticing Users to Access a Web Site, aka Google Doodles. Among other things, Google explains that the invention of co-founder Sergey Brin covers modifying a company logo with 'a turkey for Thanksgiving' and 'a leprechaun's pot of gold for Saint Patrick's Day.' To help drive home its point, Google included an illustration showing the USPTO that hearts could be displayed on the Google home page for Valentine's, which would be deja-vu-all-over-again for the 394 lovers who used the UIUC PLATO system on Feb. 14th, 1975."
10000BC, caves.
very heavy sigh.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Just ridiculous.
Aren't patents supposed to be for ideas that aren't obvious?
Hey, that's a pretty novel idea you've got there. Why not patent it? You can avoid the 'prior art' and 'obviousness' issues by simply checking the 'Super New Idea' and 'I Was First, Pinky Swear!' boxes on the patent application form.
Have hyper-litigious, like Microsoft, created an environment where every silly idea must be patented just out of self defence?
If Google did not patent this, Microsoft would have; then Microsoft would have sued Google over it's use.
Google just patented the Message of the Day...
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Remember how Sun built up its patent portfolio? Engineers would try to write the most inane shit in a contest to see what they could slip past the USPTO's radar. It was all in good nature... at the time. I suspect the Google Doodles patent must have come from something similar. It's obvious that if Google ever tried to litigate someone with it, the judge would spend most of his or her time laughing. If Google could patent "patenting irrelevant crap to test the USPTO's ability to detect said crap," they would probably try.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
It's actually even narrower than merely a special event logo. The first claim covers special event logos that includes one or more animated images. The claims only covers their animated and their interactive doodles, but doesn't cover doodles of just static images. Thus, their Pacman doodle is covered, but their July 4th doodle consisting of a painting isn't.
Not that it isn't still pretty bad. It's a dumb patent, but it's also really narrow.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
The ponies aren't coming back. It's... it's time to let go. *sniff*
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
Caveat and mea culpa: I just checked the website at http://www.usptocareers.gov/ , and it turns out that the job vacancies are currently closed. Probably something to do with Congress still not passing a real budget, and the USPTO doesn't want to have people relocate to NOVA if the government is just going to shut down immediately afterwards. Hiring will undoubtedly start again once the budget situation is resolved, especially if Congress also passes the patent reform bill that would give the USPTO fee-setting authority and access to all the collected fees.
The part time program is extremely limited in scope. Also, you have to relocate so you can attend the training academy and interact with primary and supervisory examiners while you're still a junior examiner.
Starting pay for examiners depends on your incoming education or experience. People fresh out of college with a Bachelor's will generally get paid at GS-5 at a high in-grade step, and if you have a Master's or other qualifying job experience, you could come in at a high GS-7 or GS-9. Top end for primary examiners is GS-14, achievable in 4 to 6 years. After you've been there for a long time, this puts you close to the statutory salary cap. In any case, sticking around long enough will put you into six figures.
Translation into actual numbers:
http://www.usptocareers.gov/Pages/Misc/SalaryRates.aspx
Benefits are extremely good. In addition to the standard benefits that all federal employees get (great health care, life insurance, pension, 401(k) equivalent with 5% matching, and 4/6/8 hours of paid annual and sick leave per biweek at 0/3/15 years of service), the USPTO has the federal government's flagship telework program which allows qualifying examiners (GS-12, fully successful rating, and having passed the certification exam (which is similar to the patent bar exam but shorter)) to work from home. Before that, there is a very flexible flextime schedule that comes close to letting you arrive and leave as you please, as long as you get in your 80 hours per biweek.
There are downsides, of course. One, it removes you from true engineering such that if you stay long enough, you'd better be interested enough in patent law to make a career out of it. Two, your work is metered based on a production quota, and if you have trouble meeting your quota, it can be stressful. Three, the work itself can be mind-numbing, as in many tech areas you'll be examining applications drafted with a tenuous grasp on the English language, and claim language is often intentionally vague.
And one thing to keep in mind is that you can't really make as big a difference as I let on earlier. You can do a superb job searching for prior art and making solid rejections, but ultimately, if you can't come up with a legally sound rationale for rejecting the claims, you have to allow the application. The USPTO is bound by the law, and if you try to make up your own reasoning for rejecting a claim without case law to back it up, you really just end up making more work for yourself. And if you spend too much time searching and searching for things that are extremely obscure in the prior art, you won't make production.
Google home page for Valentine's, which would be deja-vu-all-over-again for the 394 lovers who used the UIUC PLATO system on Feb. 14th, 1975
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.