__/ [ Barry Margolin ] on Wednesday 17 May 2006 13:13 \__
> In article <4658657.aGJ095cvNI@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> __/ [ theodp@xxxxxxxxx ] on Wednesday 17 May 2006 04:40 \__
>>
>> > http://www.patentbaristas.com/archives/000395.php
>> >
>> > It Only Takes One Determined Individual to Bring Down a Patent
>> >
>> > A lone blogger may have succeeded in getting Amazon's 1-Click Patent
>> > cut short. The '411 patent, assigned to Amazon, is known as the 1-Click
>> > Patent for its claim on ordering items on the web by "clicking" just
>> > once. Based on material submitted by New Zealander and Lord of the
>> > Rings choreographer Peter Calveley, the USPTO ordered a reexamination
>> > of Amazon's 1-Click Patent....
>>
>> What about the smileys?
>>
>> http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/0,39020645,39210396,00.htm
>>
>> Microsoft frowned at for smiley patent
>
> Have they (or you) actually read the patent? They didn't patent
> smileys. They patented a technique for users to create and transmit
> their own *custom* emoticons. Existing systems that translate smileys
> into graphical icons have a hard-coded list of smileys that they
> recognize. Microsoft's patent allows the user to add their own, and
> assign a character sequence that they type to represent it.
Prior art I can think of, off the top of my head:
- Graffiti ribbon strokes (shortcuts) in Palm OS
- Submission of wallpapers to on-line repositories (KDE/KDE-Look)
- Translation of actual text into animated sequences in ICQ
>> Or the swing...
>>
>> http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6368227.html
>
> Are you sure that one's real? I tried to find it on the PTO's web site,
> but couldn't.
I wondered the exact same thing. This was brought to my attention in a
different newsgroup.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Computers are useless. They only solve problems"
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