Submission + - Patenting the Use of a Computer to ...
USPTO issued two patents simply on the concept of using a computer to help physicians choose medical treatments. A company that purchased these patents claims that "the diagnosis and treatment of most chronic diseases will fall under the claims of these patents."
Rather than fight the patent, Stanford University negotiated a licensing agreement to avoid the expense of litigation. Dr. Robert Schaffer created the website to both inform researchers and solicit funds to invalid the two patents involved.
If the precedent set by this broad use of patents gains momentum, anyone can obtain a patent simply for "the use of a computer to _________" (fill in the blank). Since almost everything from the air we breath, the food we eat, and the stuff we have, has a computer involved somewhere in the supply chain, a cheaper alternative is to obtain a patent for "the use of a computer to do anything even remotely related to a patent" would render the patent system useless.