Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 8th Sep 2008 23:23 UTC
The US patent might be a bit daft, especially when it comes to software, but it does offer some interesting insights into what crazy things the big companies might be working on for future products. One such patent emerged today: Microsoft applied in 2005 (and was granted in 2008) a patent which describes how different windows may be coloured differently, or that they may have different transparency settings. This sounds a bit weird, but it may actually prove to be quite useful.
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RE: Please RTFP before jumping into conclusions!
by WereCatf on Tue 9th Sep 2008 00:47
in reply to "Please RTFP before jumping into conclusions!"
Member since:2006-02-15
Reading it a little bit more carefully it still doesn't specifically say anything about this method being only about Windows. As such, it can always be used against other software/OSes that boast similar "glass framed windows". I hope it never comes to that, it's still a possibility however.
RE: Please RTFP before jumping into conclusions!
by abraxas on Tue 9th Sep 2008 05:44
in reply to "Please RTFP before jumping into conclusions!"
Member since:2005-07-07
I'm perfectly fine with patenting "methods", as the real danger is when a "concept" gets patented.
The problem is that methods aren't supposed to be patentable just as concepts aren't supposed to be patentable. Specific implementations are patentable and was the original intent of the patent office. What we have now is a gross perversion of patents.
RE[2]: Please RTFP before jumping into conclusions!
by Soulbender on Tue 9th Sep 2008 09:28
in reply to "RE: Please RTFP before jumping into conclusions!"
Member since:2005-08-18
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Member since:
2007-02-07
They are not patenting the concepts of opacity or colored windows. It's just one specific method of providing such functionality and from what I understood, Windows dependent.
They even state that similar feature exists on other OSs and this is basically a different implementation of the same idea.
I'm perfectly fine with patenting "methods", as the real danger is when a "concept" gets patented. IBM and Microsoft and other multi-billion dollar corporations are delicious targets for patent trolls. Stuff like this are more about protecting themselves.
Edited 2008-09-09 00:40 UTC