The patent application you link to was never actually patented. The USPTO rejected the application and the applicant abandoned it. https://patents.google.com/p

The patent application you link to was never actually patented. The USPTO rejected the application and the applicant abandoned it. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040230959A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040230959A1/en I'm a former patent examiner, and from that experience, I know that attorneys frequently write things in applications that they think probably won't be allowed. They're testing the limits of what will be allowed.