4 ms·
The problem is the patent system and their apparent working definition of patentability. When Amazon can patent one-click purchasing or whoever can patent in-ap
by reader5000 14y ago
The problem is the patent system and their apparent working definition of patentability. When Amazon can patent one-click purchasing or whoever can patent in-app purchasing, the government's definition of patentability is severely broken. From what I can tell the patent office just googles the claim's buzzwords for hits prior to the filing date and if nothing is found the patent is granted. They don't even try to get into obviousness / novelty / subject matter.
Ultimately I guess it's an issue that directly affects very few people, and indirectly hits the software consumer in the form of slightly(?) increased prices and less feature availability.
- monochromatic 14y ago> from what I can tell . . . This is really not how it works.
- chris_j 14y agoWould you mind expanding on how a prior art search works? It might be of great interest to folks here.
- btn 14y agoThe USPTO publishes its operating manual for examiners on its website. All of chapter 900 deals with prior art and searches for it, but an overview of the process can be found in these sections: 904: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0900_904.htm http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0900_904... 904.02: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0900_904.htm http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0900_904... The process examiners use for a specific patent is also documented by them in the file wrapper for every application and is available in PAIR: http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair
- monochromatic 14y agoJust empirically, it seems that examiners almost never use google.
- tluyben2 14y agoWhy not? Prior art is prior art; if it's in Google, it's prior art. Why do they make it so difficult (I know the answer but I hope i'm wrong)?