4 ms·

Being able to patent something like "the top shouldn't be equal to the bottom, and only we can do that" is ridiculous. The patent system is a mess.

• taligent 14y ago
  That's why you can't patent something just like that. If you aren't going to actually learn and understand design patents then of course you are going to think it is ridiculous.
  • drivebyacct2 14y ago
    You seem to be rather short and dismissive of individuals' comments on patents, design patents and their context in this and the Oracle v Google case. For those of us that don't understand, an explanation would go a lot further than snark.
    • rayiner 14y ago
      Think of how you would feel in a thread if someone started ranting about PowerPC and Apple machines even though they use Intel CPU's now. That's where the snark comes from when people start ranting about patents in a story that has nothing to do with patents. tl;dr version: Apple didn't patent rectangles. They're claiming the combination of the various features of the iPhone (rectangular shape, even black border, rounded corners, rounded rectangle icons, etc) as trade dress. Trade dress protection isn't a patent, it's part of trademark. It's based on the idea that you can recognize say a product by its look not just the logo on the box. I personally think trade dress protection tends to be too broad, but it's a whole different set of issues from patents.