http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32843518

 

The patent system is broken, and has been for quite a while IMO. Ever since the US Supreme Court has said software could be patented, and forget the US Congress ever fixing it. So we just have to endure.

I look at this as home robotics, it is inevitable. I for one would love to have something that could help clean and organize the house, whether it is internet connected is going to be up for debate and the purchaser.

 

It's a creepy idea, but then Google is a creepy company. I am sure we would all be appalled to see our Google "dossiers."

 

The patent system is broken, and has been for quite a while IMO. Ever since the US Supreme Court has said software could be patented, and forget the US Congress ever fixing it. So we just have to endure.

Fortunately, the UK and European patent systems don't allow software patents .

 

But they may allow method patents.

This is not a patent. It is a published U.S. patent application. If the examiner finds it to be obvious or previously published at any time by another or by the inventor(s) more than a year before the application was filed (among other possibilities) the patent would not issue.

Some of this sure looks obvious, especially given the existence of "nanny cams" hidden in stuffed animals, etc.

I agree completely with Bill -it started with software patents. When the U.S. started allowing patenting of genes that exist in nature I just dropped my head in sorrow.

 

So it is an issue that merits public airing more generally, especially from the technical community.

UK and EU companies are not immune from ridiculous applications either.

 

But they may allow method patents.

This is not a patent. It is a published U.S. patent application. If the examiner finds it to be obvious or previously published at any time by another or by the inventor(s) more than a year before the application was filed (among other possibilities) the patent would not issue.

Some of this sure looks obvious, especially given the existence of "nanny cams" hidden in stuffed animals, etc.

I agree completely with Bill -it started with software patents. When the U.S. started allowing patenting of genes that exist in nature I just dropped my head in sorrow.

I wonder if anyone has invented and patented salt?

 

Back when patents were first introduced it was possible for, say, an importer to get a Letters Patent granting a monopoly for the import of a particular commodity. I wouldn't be surprised, therefore, if one had been issued for salt.