As a previous comment has noted, the difficult part is not to get a patent granted, but to uphold it and possibly defend it in court.
This patent has at least three major weaknesses.
1: A patent can not be obvious. And, seriously, who didn't think of ecommerce when they encountered the web?
2: You can't patent previously known technology. A quick peek at Amadeus history shows us they used most of these features before the patent was filed in 1993.
3: The patent describes the whole process as one long connection to the "central computer". This is not how the web works.
BellBoy has collected 6 million Nkr from investors to defend this patent. They sorely need it, and I'm afraid that is all the money they'll ever see.
Slashdot Mirror
This patent has at least three major weaknesses.
1: A patent can not be obvious. And, seriously, who didn't think of ecommerce when they encountered the web?
2: You can't patent previously known technology. A quick peek at Amadeus history shows us they used most of these features before the patent was filed in 1993.
3: The patent describes the whole process as one long connection to the "central computer". This is not how the web works.
BellBoy has collected 6 million Nkr from investors to defend this patent. They sorely need it, and I'm afraid that is all the money they'll ever see.