-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
IBM Patents Changing Color of E-Mail Text
,----[ Quote ]
| "Last week, the USPTO granted IBM a patent for its System and method for
| comprehensive automatic color customization in an email message based on
| cultural perspective. So what exactly did the four Big Blue inventors come up
| with? IBM explains: 'For example, an email created in the U.S. in red font to
| indicate urgency or emphasis might be mapped to a more appropriate color
| (e.g., blue or black) for sending to Korea.' IBM took advantage of the
| USPTO's Accelerated Examination Program to fast-track the patent's approval.
| BTW, if you missed the 2006 press release, IBM boasted it was 'holding itself
| to a higher standard than any law requires because it's urgent that patent
| quality is improved.'"
`----
http://slashdot.org/submission/1001313/IBM-Patents-Changing-Color-of-E-Mail-Text
Stealing Free - from open standards
,----[ Quote ]
| Either EU remains committed to open standards or the term "open standards"
| need to be removed from the new interoperability framework decision. Perhaps
| just standards as in formal standards from ISO would be more adequate? Open
| standards should not be stolen from the winning innovative Internet realm
| just because the greed of those that prefer royalty based industry standards.
|
| [...]
|
| " The term "open" is usually restricted to royalty-free technologies while
| the term "standard" is sometimes restricted to technologies approved by
| formalized committees that are open to participation by all interested
| parties and operate on a consensus basis." (at least still)
`----
http://bosson.blogspot.com/2009/05/stealing-free-from-open-standards.html
Recent:
IBM's Wishlist Includes A Patent On Avatars' Wishlists
,----[ Quote ]
| theodp writes "In 2006, IBM boasted it was 'holding itself to a higher
| standard than any law requires because it's urgent that patent quality is
| improved.' On Thursday, the USPTO revealed that IBM was seeking a patent for
| Controlling and Using Virtual Universe Wish Lists. The product of six IBM
| inventors, Big Blue explained that a 'virtual wish list device determines an
| item in a virtual universe that is desired by an avatar.' Led by Chief Avatar
| Sam Palmisano, IBM is still drinking the virtual world Kool-Aid, dropping
| $80,000 to host a recent Second Life-based conference for 200 or so members
| of the IBM Academy of Technology. IBM indicated the virtual venue was chosen
| to avoid sending 'the wrong kind of message' (pdf) that something like a
| $400,000 real-world meeting might send during troubled economic times."
`----
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090421/1152534596.shtml
IBM Patents Removing Leading/Trailing Blanks
,----[ Quote ]
| theodp writes "With its example of how ' John Doe ' could be saved in a
| database as 'John Doe' (i.e., without leading or trailing blanks), purported
| patent reformer IBM dazzled the USPTO enough to earn Big Blue a patent last
| Tuesday for Automatically removing leading and trailing space characters from
| data being entered into a database system . The three IBM 'inventors' are
| also seeking a related patent for Retrieving data from a database system
| without leading and trailing space characters. Hey, if the patent system
| ain't broke, don't fix it!"
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090108/0230453331.shtml
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
iEYEARECAAYFAkoQg/sACgkQU4xAY3RXLo64XgCgnY5F14GFJaXHdkBif15yeJnw
I5wAn3GTjJkg+HQ6EivJ0w60RamsfCHF
=ulwf
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
|
