God I am lost for words about this, http://www.geekwire.com/2013/amazon-wins-patent-reselling-lending-used-digital-goods/ and the /. thread on the matter http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/02/05/0212200/amazon-patents-maintaining-scarcity-of-goods
Artificial scarcity, NOW A PATENT!
- Thread starter abominable_scouse_monster
- Start date
Prior invention, prior disclosure, patent is utterly invalid even in America. Problem is the nuisance of lawsuits that people might settle rather than fight. This can be a lucrative alternative to actually selling anything or doing anything useful. Hopefully this is just a defensive action by Amazon to preempt some of these chancers.
The USPO even issued a patent once for a business process that involved sitting at a desk answering enquiries, I think, with the aid of a database. American patents are moving away, hopefully, from allowing things like Genes, which are discoveries, to be patented rather than processes which are legitimate areas for patent.
My favourite American patent was the 19th century one for a safety pin whose principles had been demonstrated something like four thousand years before with some bronze brooches.
The USPO even issued a patent once for a business process that involved sitting at a desk answering enquiries, I think, with the aid of a database. American patents are moving away, hopefully, from allowing things like Genes, which are discoveries, to be patented rather than processes which are legitimate areas for patent.
My favourite American patent was the 19th century one for a safety pin whose principles had been demonstrated something like four thousand years before with some bronze brooches.
True but it's a bigger issue.
The problem is in the USA they already have genetic patents look at farmers getting hammered because one of there neighbours stores his own seed crop that was possibly pollinated by crops they provided. They even tried for pollination of crops by natural forces once, not sure of the patent application ID but it was turned down as they didn't do enough to differentiate between natural and artificial pollination buy there super crop.
But I hope they do move away from being able to patent nature, method sure that might be unique but the genetic make up of life should not be allowed to be owned.
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