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USPTO Approves Amazon Patent For Taking Pictures

Posted by timothy on from the not-even-on-the-internet-will-save-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The U.S. Patent Office granted Amazon a patent in March that basically describes taking a picture with a white background. Amazon claims that their method is unique to current photography methods because they can achieve the effect of a true white background without retouching the photo or using any sort of post-processing technique. Some professional photographers disagree, claiming that plenty of prior art exists embodying Amazon's described method and furthermore that this pre-existing method is what the photography industry calls 'shooting against a seamless white backdrop.'"

5 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Our patent system is totally broken by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seriously. Did the examiner on this even consider asking anyone who knows anything about photography? I'm not a photographer but I've had my picture taken for "promotional" reasons and already knew about this. I've even created a similar setup here when posting stuff online.

    Took me 10 seconds to find this page:

    http://www.raydobbins.com/phot...

    What, exactly, are they trying to "patent" and why does this examiner still have a job? It's obvious that we need to have crowdsourcing prior art as an official part of the patent process.

    --
    Do you have ESP?
    1. Re:Our patent system is totally broken by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly this. You can, however, achieve exactly the same effect by dozens of minor variations on the theme. 72 mm lens, slower iso (really, 320, WTF?), differing positioning of lights, etc.

      While it hardly seems novel or non obvious, it's also so narrow as to be essentially useless.

      Color me confused. Or maybe it's just a black and white issue.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Our patent system is totally broken by thedonger · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I don't care if no one in history prior to know has taken a photo of someone with a white sheet behind them. Is that really worthy of a patent?

      --
      Help fight poverty: Punch a poor person.
    3. Re: Our patent system is totally broken by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      My brother is a patent examiner. When he uncovers something that invalidates a patent application (and he's hard pressed for time. The patent office is over worked, understaffed, and runs on quotas) he's supposed to help the company reword the patent to make it acceptable. Almost no patents are simply rejected. The examiners and companies tweak each patent until it fits.

  2. Re:Hmmm... I did this for Christmas pictures at ho by BigSlowTarget · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sure you could mail your payment to Amazon or possibly use a credit card but don't use a 1-click system or other charges may apply.