● 11.24.07

●● Quick Mention: UK Intellectual Property Office Revokes Software Patent

Posted in Europe, Patents at 8:48 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

This new case ought to be an interesting one to watch.

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A patent for the handling of gratuities in card payments has been revoked by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for being a business method implemented by a computer program. The decision follows recently-revised guidance on patentability.

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One of the inventors told OUT-LAW today that his company spent more than £100,000 trying to enforce and defend the patent before passing the rights to another company, which he described as a “patent troll”. He believes that company will appeal this month’s ruling.

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At the moment, Brits can pretty much ignore Microsoft patent FUD against Linux. The same applies to the vast majority of the world. Amazon, which we mentioned a couple of days ago, is still hungry for junk patents [via Slashdot].

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theodp writes “Just in time for holiday shopping, the USPTO has awarded Amazon a patent for Generating Current Order Fulfillment Plans Based on Expected Future Orders, which explains how to use modeled net present value to adjust an order’s delivery date favorably or unfavorably based upon expectations that the customer will have high-profit orders in the future…”

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The above phrase is just a complicated way to say that Amazon owns the idea of VIP (very important person), who receives special treatment for being rich. Is it better or is it worse than Amazon’s one-click patent (articles presented below)?

Related articles:

Amazon Sneaks One-Click Past the Patent SystemPatent Reformers O’Reilly, Bezos Mum on 1-ClickUSPTO Increases Scope Of Amazon’s 1-Click Patent

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