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In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft has allegedly filed a patent for much of the technology related to Apple’s iPod. If this sounds absurd, that’s because it is. What makes matters worse, though, is that the patent applications were somehow accepted, leaving only the possibility for a trail of litigation and lawsuit nightmares. Once again, lawyers rejoice.

I really do not understand how the US Patent Office gives away patents like this. The patent system is in place to protect inventors and innovators so that others do not copy and profit from their ideas. However, who decides what constitutes an “invention”? We’ve all seen stories of some of these outrageous patents over the years. Is one-click shopping really a breakthrough idea? And how could anyone agree that categorizing web pages according to the subjects of their content is an invention?

Outrageous historical patents aside, this new spat between Microsoft and Apple perhaps tops them all. In an article about reforming the patent system, the folks at groklaw.net had the following to say:

My question is, how could something like this happen under the current system? The Patent Office examiner never saw an iPod? And more pertinently, Microsoft didn’t know about iPods, when it filed its patent? Puh-lease. And yet, do you feel 100% sure that Apple will win? The US patent system is an unholy mess, and the law in practice has become so bizarre and arbitrary and out of sync with the way the system was set up to work that you can’t even predictably rely on a just outcome. Laws are supposed to at least be *trying* to bring about a just result. Here’s my next question… did Microsoft list the iPod, like they are supposed to, when they filed for their patent? You’re not allowed to hide prior art. When you are applying for a patent, you have a duty of candor, as they put it, to list all prior art you know about. iPods. We’re talking iPods. Is there anyone left on the planet who hasn’t heard of iPods?

Now excuse me while I go file a patent for searching the web via relevant keywords. This is going to be huge.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 19th, 2005 at 1:48 pm and is filed under News, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.