Patently stupid

Guambat reckons there is no intelligence in most IT. It should be called Infantile Trivia for the most part, and is simply a way of planting a virtual flag on a virtual bit of space in a far galaxy to waive away others from nothing much. He could probably patent an effective way to lift one's cheek to fart based on the nebulousness of most patents these days.

Corroborating that thought is the following writer.

Why the coming patent crisis is inevitable by Ben Parr

[Speaking of the Facebook/Yahoo patent-slinging contest he says] I'm shocked by some of the patents over which these two companies are suing each other. One of Yahoo's patents focuses on the "optimum placement of advertisements on a webpage", while Facebook has two patents that cover a "system for controlled distribution of user profiles over a network." Yahoo owns the patent for a "method to determine the validity of an interaction on a network", but "generating a feed of stories personalized for members of a social network" belongs to Facebook.

You really can receive a software patent for almost anything these days, it seems.

Facebook and Yahoo aren't the only ones collecting patents and threatening to use them like stockpiled nuclear weapons, though. Here are just some of the patent disputes that have made headlines in the last two weeks: Apple and Samsung, Microsoft and Motorola, RIM and NXP, Oracle and Google, and Tivo and Motorola.

Patents have played an important role in protecting an inventor's intellectual property and fostering innovation throughout history. However, their usefulness in software is far more limited, and in recent years has simply become damaging to innovation, thanks to patent trolls using IP they've acquired to sue smaller tech companies and make a quick buck.

Patent law simply wasn't designed for the always changing, rapidly developing world of software. Inventing a way for "generating a feed of stories" isn't the same as inventing a new type of fuel injection system or a new ultralight alloy for space travel. But software companies file patents like crazy because companies like Yahoo get desperate and start suing, and your only defense is to have your own stockpile of patents that will help you negotiate a settlement faster.

It's the tech industry's version of mutually assured destruction. And all the while, the patent situation inches closer toward a crisis that will make the SOPA controversy look like a walk in the park. At some point in the future, a company is going to skip the settlement and use the courts to shut down a popular and universal feature on the Web's top domains, simply because it has a patent that says it came up with the notion first. It will be a shock that reverberates all the way to the U.S. government and the World Trade Organization.

I suspect a patent crisis is both necessary and inevitable. The reason is simple: there isn't enough political will or pressure to institute massive patent reform without a crisis to rally around.

That's why the cycle of patents, lawsuits, and settlements isn't ending anytime soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go file a patent for a method of identifying patent trolls, just to see if I can.

While Mr. Parr is going out to file his patent, Guambat is going out to the night's sky to claim a star.

In your Face, Dude

Let's face it, so-called proprietary ownership of common language has gone too far. Old McDonald should be turning over in his grave. This is nothing more than common thievery. Thievery of the commons.

Facebook Allowed to Trademark the Word 'Face'

Businesses thinking of including "face" in their name might want to reconsider. Facebook this week was granted a notice of allowance to trademark the word "face."

The effort to trademark "face" goes back to 2005 when CIS Internet Limited, a U.K.-based company, tried to trademark "face" for its faceparty.com site. Facebook bought the application from CIS in 2008.

Even without the official "face" trademark, Facebook has already gone after companies using "face" – as well as "book" – in their business names.

In August, the company sued Teachbook, arguing that "book" is a term associated with Facebook. Selecting "book" was a completely arbitrary choice and "pilfers a distinctive part of the Facebook," Facebook said. Travel site PlaceBook also changed its name to TripTrace after Facebook contacted the site and said its name was confusingly similar to its own.

In October, Facebook sued Faceporn, citing copyright infringement. Facebook said that Faceporn "blatantly copied the Facebook logo, site, and Wall trademark." Facebook was awarded a patent for its news feed in February.

More recently, Facebook has been in a battle with Lamebook, a parody site that makes fun of the ridiculous things posted to the social-networking site. Last week, Facebook filed a trademark infringement case against the site since Lamebook uses a logo and marks similar to Facebook's throughout its site. "The content and functionality that appears on the Lamebook site is essentially derived from the Facebook site," Facebook wrote in its suit, filed in California District Court.

Facebook later shut down the Lamebook fan page, though Facebook chief technology officer Bret Taylor later told TechCrunch that that was a mistake. "In the process of dealing with a routine trademark violation issue regarding some links posted to Facebook, we blocked all mentions of the phrase 'lamebook' on Facebook," Taylor said.

Lamebook later set up a legal assistance fund. "Facebook didn't get the joke. They've decided to pick on the little guys: small business owners who seem to be no match for a multi-billion dollar behemoth. But this is one Web site that's not going down without a fight" the company wrote. "With our first amendment rights under fire, we've made a daring legal move that we believe will help us defend ourselves under the law and keep this site up, allowing us to keep bringing you, your friends, your parents, and your creepy uncle the insanity that's had us in stitches since we started. Thing is, we need your support."

Guambat reckons it's about time we did an about face on this squatters rights of every day usage of our language.