If you still didn't think patents were getting ridiculous...
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Here's a story for you if you are in the camp don't yet believe that the whole patent system is ridiculous and broken. http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1952246,00.html[^]
Still my all-time favorite: US Patent 5,443,036: Method of exercising a cat[^]; Amiss, et al. August 22, 1995
Matt Gerrans
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What's so broken or ridiculous? McD's are not patenting sandwiches or even the making of sandwiches. They are patenting a very specific process involving equipment and resources, the end product being a sandwich. I don't see anything ridiculous about that at all.
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] I agree with you that my argument is useless. [Red Stateler] Hey, I am part of a special bread, we are called smart people [Captain See Sharp] The zen of the soapbox is hard to attain...[Jörgen Sigvardsson] I wish I could remember what it was like to only have a short term memory.[David Kentley]
Well it is certainly ridiculous if you consider that patents are supposed to be novel. This one sounds like 19th century innovation applied to sandwiches. The Model-T is prior art. I think I'll apply for a "pre-assembly of burrito components and simultaneous preparation of different parts of the same burrito" patent before Taco Bell gets to it, so I can extort them for millions! What is the purpose of the patent system? To foster invention, or to foster extortion and protectionism? I think it has gone the way of Dante.
Matt Gerrans
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Still my all-time favorite: US Patent 5,443,036: Method of exercising a cat[^]; Amiss, et al. August 22, 1995
Matt Gerrans
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What's so broken or ridiculous? McD's are not patenting sandwiches or even the making of sandwiches. They are patenting a very specific process involving equipment and resources, the end product being a sandwich. I don't see anything ridiculous about that at all.
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] I agree with you that my argument is useless. [Red Stateler] Hey, I am part of a special bread, we are called smart people [Captain See Sharp] The zen of the soapbox is hard to attain...[Jörgen Sigvardsson] I wish I could remember what it was like to only have a short term memory.[David Kentley]
Chris Meech wrote:
What's so broken or ridiculous? McD's are not patenting sandwiches or even the making of sandwiches.
Actually, from the wording of the story (I was unable to locate the actual filing) it seems that the process of making a sandwich is being patented. I certainly that part doesn't fly, but this was not the original purpose of patents.
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Chris Meech wrote:
What's so broken or ridiculous? McD's are not patenting sandwiches or even the making of sandwiches.
Actually, from the wording of the story (I was unable to locate the actual filing) it seems that the process of making a sandwich is being patented. I certainly that part doesn't fly, but this was not the original purpose of patents.
tgrt wrote:
Actually, from the wording of the story (I was unable to locate the actual filing) it seems that the process of making a sandwich is being patented.
Even if that is the case the patent office gets all kinds of crazy filings. Their job is to grant patents to those that are, in fact, patentable. The only reason this made it into the news is that the name McDonald's is associated with it. I bet the get thousands of crazy ideas that get tossed out every year. Of course those ideas don't have a big name company associated with them, so they don't make the news. Cheers, Drew.
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What's so broken or ridiculous? McD's are not patenting sandwiches or even the making of sandwiches. They are patenting a very specific process involving equipment and resources, the end product being a sandwich. I don't see anything ridiculous about that at all.
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] I agree with you that my argument is useless. [Red Stateler] Hey, I am part of a special bread, we are called smart people [Captain See Sharp] The zen of the soapbox is hard to attain...[Jörgen Sigvardsson] I wish I could remember what it was like to only have a short term memory.[David Kentley]
Chris Meech wrote:
They are patenting a very specific process involving equipment and resources, the end product being a sandwich. I don't see anything ridiculous about that at all.
I agree. I'm not a big fan of McD's, but after all it's a business and they have a right to protect their process in the same manner Hershey patents their candy making process.
~Nitron.
ññòòïðïðB A
start -
Still my all-time favorite: US Patent 5,443,036: Method of exercising a cat[^]; Amiss, et al. August 22, 1995
Matt Gerrans
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Still my all-time favorite: US Patent 5,443,036: Method of exercising a cat[^]; Amiss, et al. August 22, 1995
Matt Gerrans
That reminds me of the single best invention in the history of the world - the Tabby Tote: [^] Picturing the thought on the feline's face is what makes it so perfect. :-D
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music to programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
Sleep deprivation does not cause physical harm. Humans can only survive about a week without sleep before flat out dying. - Espeir Logic Prism. -
Chris Meech wrote:
They are patenting a very specific process involving equipment and resources, the end product being a sandwich. I don't see anything ridiculous about that at all.
I agree. I'm not a big fan of McD's, but after all it's a business and they have a right to protect their process in the same manner Hershey patents their candy making process.
~Nitron.
ññòòïðïðB A
startNitron wrote:
and they have a right to protect their process in the same manner Hershey patents their candy making process.
and it is probably fall-out from the patent filed (and approved) by Burger King for batter-dipped fries, which they also got qualified as "fresh food" under FDA regulations. I expect most fast-food companies who have not filed patents have been madly filing over the last couple of years because of that patent. Especially since several already had batter dipped fries, but never filed a patent, so ended up having to change or pay right fees.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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That reminds me of the single best invention in the history of the world - the Tabby Tote: [^] Picturing the thought on the feline's face is what makes it so perfect. :-D
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music to programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
Sleep deprivation does not cause physical harm. Humans can only survive about a week without sleep before flat out dying. - Espeir Logic Prism.David Wulff wrote:
Picturing the thought on the feline's face is what makes it so perfect.
Careful! Trollslayer may hear that!
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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What's so broken or ridiculous? McD's are not patenting sandwiches or even the making of sandwiches. They are patenting a very specific process involving equipment and resources, the end product being a sandwich. I don't see anything ridiculous about that at all.
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] I agree with you that my argument is useless. [Red Stateler] Hey, I am part of a special bread, we are called smart people [Captain See Sharp] The zen of the soapbox is hard to attain...[Jörgen Sigvardsson] I wish I could remember what it was like to only have a short term memory.[David Kentley]
This is the problem with the patent system, only physical products should be able to obtain patents, no software, formulas, processes, business logic, etc., those all would fall under copyright, not patents! Patents in today's world are nothing but tools for corrupt people to rob the earnings of hard working people!
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