Despite my fondness for most of the things that are developed in Cupertino’s factory of dreams, Apple’s fondness of software patents is one of their least pleasant characteristics at the moment. If it’s not bad enough trying to protect the very idea of a tablet computer by patents ( imagine if someone had down that with laptops ?) this patent, is in effect trying to patent the process of cartography !
To illustrate just how ludicrous software patents have become, the image below displayed electronically could be in breach of Apple’s successful patent !
Clearly there is a need for Patents, but the current process by which almost any vague idea or any concept even with considerable prior art is granted a patent has to change.
Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)
6 replies on “Patent madness mapped !”
Of course they’re not the only ones playing the silly patent game… I mean there’s this gem to consider:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/12/google_customer_notification_patent/
@tom, yup is a dumb arms race..
if only everyone was as nice as Volvo…but then again that was important…these are just greed
http://www.caradvice.com.au/37982/volvo-celebrates-50-years-of-the-seatbelt/
This is a good one!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/23/samsung_battles_apple_with_kubrick/
Or howabout the multimap patent for putting pins on a map?
http://fordqa.multimap.com/press/press_releases/pr16_uspatent/
Dumb, dumb, dumber…
All words are Vague. You never can define a word completely, because then you would have to define every word in that definition, ETC. So you have to have a point of reference to go by, and the best one is a concrete picture. Words should not be patent-able, for they are Vague. Why do you think these Bills in congress has so many words, because most of it is just definitions, which is just a racket for Lawyers. A lot of those words could be replaced with pictures and diagrams. Remember ALL words are VAGUE, for they can’t be DEFINED Completely!
It is time to GET these Patent Trolls!