At the time the bonuses were being handed out, engineers were running pretty much whatever they could think of up the flagpole. Nobody was concerned with the e

At the time the bonuses were being handed out, engineers were running pretty much whatever they could think of up the flagpole. Nobody was concerned with the ethics of the situation. (In my defense I pitched only four disclosures at them, out of which only one was accepted for filing.) Today, if you have a problem with the USPTO's policy of rubber-stamping trivial, obvious, and abstract patents (and I most certainly do), the proper targets for venting are your Congressmen. It's safe to say they don't read Hacker News (hint, hint).