We really need to start an action group (Occupy Patent Office???) to stop idiotic patents. I’ve been reading the patent that Apple sued HTC over, and came across this one as well, and I must say, these are so blatantly obvious ideas, they cannot possibly be patentable in my mind. A patent should be an “invention”. Algorithms like these are not inventions, they are simple parsers that anyone with a modicum of intelligence will think of. You can tell they are trying to turn it into an invention with terminology and processes like this:
The system provides an analyzer server, an application program interface, a user interface and an action processor.
So, how did HTC get sued over this implementation? You don’t need an analyzer “server”, or an “API”, or an “action processor” to do this stuff. WTF? Yes, those are nice abstractions, but that’s all they are, not some “invention”.
From dictionary.com, “invention”:
U.S. Patent Law . a new, useful process, machine, improvement, etc., that did not exist previously and that is recognized as the product of some unique intuition or genius, as distinguished from ordinary mechanical skill or craftsmanship.
Apple. You FAIL. Patent Office. You FAIL. These patents are not a display of some unique intuition or genius. They are very ordinary, obvious, solutions to improving the user experience.
This is why I don’t by Apple stuff. I refuse to feed the monster. Of course, that just means I’m feeding a different monster.
Marc Clifton 